Over the Harvest Moon
by Libra1
Summary: A BTN fanfic. Jack is given 3 years to turn a rundown dump into a prosperous farm. Through all the friendships, rivalries, and heartbreaks will he be able to be successful? Chapter 22 up! Jack runs into someone he's been trying to avoid...
1. Memories and the First Day

Author's note: This is a Back to Nature fic. It's my first one, so please read and review so I know what you guys think of it. Thanks in advance! :) 

**Chapter 1: Memories and the First Day**

The young man stood in front of the run down farm, his new home. It had once belonged to his grandfather who had recently passed. Once when he was younger he had visited this farm. It had looked a lot different from what he remembered. It's funny how different your prospective is when you are a kid. The young man, still deep in thought, didn't notice the funny looking man standing behind him. 

"Excuse me? You must be Jack," Jack turned around to see a man with a large round nose and a curled mushtache. 

"Yeh that would be me," Jack replied and grinned. 

"I'm Mayor Thomas," the funny looking man said, extending out his hand. Jack did the same, and they shook hands. "Welcome to Mineral Village." 

"Thanks." 

"What do you think of the town so far?" the mayor asked. 

Jack shrugged. "I haven't seen that much of it. I don't even know my way around yet." 

"That's alright. I can show you around the town. I have just enough time this morning to do that." 

"Thanks," Jack replied. 

"Let's start with the farm." Both Jack and the mayor slowly walked into the feilds. "Do you remember when you first visited this farm? You were so small then." 

"Of course I do," Jack replied. It was the best summer of his life. He could still hear his father's words echoing in his head.... I'm sorry son, I had to cancel the family trip this year. I'm too busy with work. The good news is that your grandfather said you may stay with him all summer..... 

Jack closed his eyes remembering that summer..... 

******** 

  
_Jack's grandfather approached Jack, who was standing in front of the house. He was only six. _

"Hey little man! It's good to see you again Jack. I'll be pretty busy during the dayworking, but there are children in the village you can play with. You can also play on the back hill if you would like. 

After days of playing with all the farm animals Jack took his grandfather's advice and went to play on the back hill. He layed down on the cool grass and starred up at the sky for what felt like hours. As his eyes began to close a little girl slowly walked up to him. 

"Hello." She said and Jack opened his eyes. "Are you the boy who is staying at the old man's farm?" Jack nodded. "Do you like to play up here?" Jack nodded again. "Me too. Will you play with me?" Jack once again nodded his head, only this time he also smiled. "Okay!" She signaled for him to follow her, and together they walked up to the top. There she sang to him and he even joined in on a few songs. That was who he spent his whole summer with. 

The day Jack was to leave the farm the little girl came to see him leave. "You leaving already?" Jack nodded. "Promise me that you will com back someday. It's a promise right?" 

"Right," Jack replied. "I'll come back someday..."  


*************** 

Jack quickly opened his eyes. The promise! He had almost forgot the promise he made to the little girl. Wait a minute... he couldn't even remember her name! But he could still hear her voice, so sweet and innocent singing to him on the hill.... 

"Jack? The Mayor looked at him concerned. "Are you alright?" Jack nodded. "Good. Before we begin there is something I need to talk to you about. Your grandfather worked very hard to make this farm prosperous, and we hope that you continue to work as hard as he did. We don't mean to test you, but if you are unable to make this farm prosperous in three years, or if you can't get along with the villagers, then you will be forced to leave. I hope you understand," 

Jack forced a smile. "Don't worry about me, I'll work hard. I'll make this farm as good as it was before," Although he tried to sound asure of himself, he really wasn't. Could he turn this run down farm into something prosperous? 

"Good, let's get started." The mayor led him to the back of the farm. "Over that bridge is Mother's Hill. That is where Gotz the carpenter lives. If you have any questions about your house or the hill you should ask him. Now let's go into town." 

The first stop was the Blacksmith's shop. "This is Saibara's shop. Here you can buy tools for your farm. Saibara's grandson Gray works here also" They continued on . "This is the winery," the Mayor said. "They usually need help durin gharvest season, so try to lend a hand if you can." 

The next stop was the library. "This is the library," the Mayor began, "It isn't open on Monday's so we can't go in. Mary works here. She's a ice girl. If you ever need a book this is the place to go." 

Jack looked next door from the library at a small house. Sitting in front was an elderly woman sitting in her rocking chair. 

"Hello Thomas." The woman said. 

"Oh hello Ellen, how are you today?" The mayor walked toward her and Jack followed. 

"Fine thanks. Is this the boy who is going to work at the farm?" 

"Yes this is Jack." Jack smiled. 

"Well it was good to see you Thomas and ah, Jack." 

Next door was another small house similar to the one Ellen was sitting in front of. "This is my house. Jack, you can visit me and my son Harris whenever you want. Harris is our local police force." 

Next door to the Mayor's house was a small grocery store. "Come here to buy anything you need for your farm. They sell cooking supplies and even seeds. Why don't you go inside and look around? I'll wait for you out here." 

Jack nodded and walked into the store. It was a small store, with seeds on the middle table, cooking supplies to the left, and misc stuff to the right. At the back of the sotre stood a mousey little man with jet black hair at the cash register. Walking around the cooking supplies was an older man with gray streaks in his hair. 

The man held up a box of flour. "Hey Jeff, put this on my okay?" 

Jeff sighed. "Your tab.... alright." 

The man started to walk past Jack but suddenly stopped. "Hey aren't you that guy who moved to the farm? Jack right? I'm Duke, I run Aja Winery." Duke noticed a strange look on Jacks face. "Hey what's wrong?" 

"You should pay for that." Jack replied. 

"Oh, it's okay. I'm going to pay later." 

Just then a beautiful girl with sparkling green eyes and two blonde streaks in her brown hair came out of the back room. "Duke!" She cried. "You should pay for things you buy!" She walked over and held out her hand. Duke reluctantly placed the money in her hand and left the store. The girl looked over at Jack. "Hi! I'm Karen. You must be the guy that moved onto the new farm." 

"Yep, that's me. I'm Jack, nice to meet you Karen." Jack grinned. 

"Nice to meet you too." Karen quickly shook Jack's hand. "Well I have to get back to work. Maybe I'll talk to you later." Karen walked back into the back room and Jack left the store. 

"Always pay for your stuff when you shope there," the Mayor said. "Karen and her mom get very upset when you people buy on credit." Jack looked as if he was starring off into space. "I guess you met Karen and her family?" She's a nice girl. You better watch out for Rick though. He seems to like Karen a lot." 

"Uhh yeh," Jack quickly changed the subject. "So what is that building over there?" Jack points next door to the grocery store. 

"That is the clinic. Elli and the doctor work there. Why don't you go in and introduce yourself?" 

Jack did just that. He entered the clinic and standing inside was a cute girl with short brown hair. "Hello!" She said cheerfully. "I'm Elli!" 

Jack smiled. "Hey. I'm Jack." 

"Nice to meet you Jack. So what can I do for you? The doctor is on his break right now..." Elli squinted and starred at Jack's arm. "Hey! You have a cut on your arm! Does it hurt?" 

"It did when I first cut myself," He admitted. "But I'm okay now," He grinned. 

"Oh dear. Here take these." Elli handed him a few bandaids. "Just in case you get cut again. 

"Thanks." 

"You come back again if you need more okay? And don't forget to visit the doctor is you ever feel sick!" 

"Thanks Elli. I'll definately come back soon." 

"Bye Jack!" 

Jack smiled again. Elli was nice, and she seemed very caring too. He turned around and left the clinic. 

Outside the clinic the mayor was waiting for him. "Shall we continue?" 

"Yeh, what else is in this town?" 

"Well," the Mayor began, "down that way is the church. The pastor is a odd but nice man. Now this way is the village inn..." 

Jack and Thomas stood in front of the inn. It was probably one of the largest buildings in town. "Here at the inn you can rent a room or buy some food. The owner is the best cook in town. At night this place also serves as a bar. Go in and look around." 

"Jack opened the door and stepped in. Inside stood another cute girl with bright blue eyes and red hair that was pulled up into a single braid. There's a lot of cute girls in this town, Jack thought to himself and grinned. 

"Hi! I'm Ann! Are you the new guy?" 

"Yeh that would be me. I'm Jack," he replied, still grinning. 

"Excuse me," A man behind the counter said to him. "Could you come here for a minute?" Jack walked over to him. "I'm the owner of this inn. See that girl over there? That's my daughter Ann. What do you think of her?" 

Jack looked over at Ann and then back at Doug, a big grin on his face. "She's cute," he replied. 

"Good!" Doug smiled. Ann walked over to where they were talking. 

"What are you guys talking about?" She asked. 

"It's private business. Now go finish your work," her father said sternly. 

"Fine," Ann turned to Jack. "It was nice meeting you! Come here anytime you get hungry. 

"I definately will." Jack replied. 

"Bye!" Ann walked away and Jack left the inn. 

"How was it?" the Mayor asked once Jack came out from the inn. 

"Ann and Doug are really nice." 

"Yes they are. Doug;s wife died a few years ago and he raised Ann by himself. There are a few other places I need to show you before I hae to go back home. Let's continue." 

Jack and the Mayor walked down the street until they came to the middle of town. "This is Rose Square. We hold most of our festivals here..." 

The mayor continued talking about all the different festivals but Jack wasn't paying attention. In the middle of Rose Square was a girl with black hair and glasses talking to a guy wearing a blue hat. Jack tried listening to their converstation. 

"So you're Saibara's grandson, Gray right?" The girl asked. 

"Yes I'm Gray," he replied. 

"Well I'm Mary, I run the library. You should stop by if you get the chance..." 

So that was Mary. She's not to bad looking Jack thought to himself. The mayor noticed Jack starring at them. "That's Mary and Gray. I'll introduce you to them." 

Thomas and Jack walked over to them. "Hello Mary, Gray. This is Jack." 

"Hello." They both replied. 

"Sorry we can't stay and chat," the mayor explained. "We have to finish Jack's tour of the town." They said goodbye and continued on with the tour. 

"I'm running out of time Jack, so I'll make these last two places real quick. This is the Yodel Ranch. Here you can buy cows and sheep. Just talk to Barley if you want to buy anything. Now next door is the Poultry farm." The mayor said as they walked towards the farm. "You can buy chickens and chichen feed here." 

They both stopped in front of the Poultry farm. Jack looked in to see a guy with red hair and a girl with.... pink hair?! They were both argueing over something. 

"I hate you Rick!" The girl yelled, then turned around and almost ran into Jack. "Oh hello," She said, and blushed from the embarassment. "I'm Popuri, hello Thomas." 

Thomas smiled. "This is Jack, your new neighbor."   
"Nice to meet you Jack. I must go now, bye!" Popuri ran off, oviously not mad at Rick anymore. 

"That's Rick," The mayor said, looking over at the boy with the red hair. So that's the guy who likes Karen, Jack thought to himself. 

"Well that's all for the tour." Jack and the mayor walked back to the farm. "I'm sorry but I must go now. Good luck Jack. Just ask if you have any questions. Bye!" The mayor walked off to leave Jack starring at the farm. 

_Can I really fix up this place in three years? I have a lot of work ahead of me... I wonder if the girl with the beautiful voice is still here... I wish I could remember her name....._

var yviContents='http://us.toto.geo.yahoo.com/toto?s=76001080 geovisit();


	2. The Loooong First Week

**Part 2: The Looooong First Week**

Jack woke up the next morning and looked around the room. For a second there he forgot where he was. This was going to take some time to get used to. 

He looked at the time. It was six o'clock in the morning. He couldn't remeber the last time he got up that early. Jack got out of his new bed and put on his clothes. "Time to get to work," He mumbled to himself and walked outside. 

Waiting outside for Jack was a tall guy with brown hair. Jack blinked his eyes a few times to make sure that he wasn't imagining this guy in front of him. 

"Hey I'm Zack the shipper," the man said to Jack. "I will be shipping all of your produce for you. You can put it in the bin over there." He points the the shipping bin next to Jack's house. "You can ship things such as vegetables, milk, eggs, and wool in there. Oh yeh, if you are running low on cash I suggest you ship things you find on the back hill such as fruits and grasses. You can make quite a bit of money doing that. I come to pick up any produce you put in the bins at five o'clock sharp. Also I don't ship things on festival days, I like to take days off too! Well I guess I will see you at five. Bye!" Zack walked off before Jack could even say anything. 

Jack's puppy comes running over to him. "Hello Koro, good boy. I think I am going to go into town today. I'll be back later." He looked around the farm. This is gunna be a lot of work, I wish I knew what I was getting myself into before, Jack thought to himself. He took one last glance at the farm and walked towards town. 

Jack wanted to go to the grocery store, mainly to see Karen, but to also by seeds. The only problem was that he couldn't remember where it was. He looked around but couldn't find anyone to ask for directions. So he walked into the first building he saw, which happened to be the building next door to his farm. 

Inside sat Saibara and his grandson Gray. Jack went into the Blacksmith's shop! 

"Hey what can I do for ya?" Siabara asked. 

"Ummm nothing," Jack turned around and walked out. 

"Well he's an odd one," Siabara said to Gray, who wasn't paying attention at all. 

Jack walked back outside and groaned. His first full day and he already made a fool of himself. How was he ever going to find anything in this darn town? 

Just then a goofy looking tall man approached Jack. He was wearing a blue hat, and he had an usually large nose. 

"Hey there! You must be Jack. I'm Harris, the local police force. Hey, you look a little lost. Is something wrong?" 

"Hey Harris," Jack replied. "I'm looking for the grocery store, could you tell me how to get there?" 

"Sure! I'll take you right there." Jack and Harris walk down the road and straight to the grocery store. "Here it is," 

"Thanks." Jack walked in through the front door and looked around the whole store. The only person who was there was Jeff, and he was half asleep behind the counter. Karen wasn't there. I'll have to come back later, Jack thought to himself and walked back outside. 

Harris was still standing there, but that wasn't what Jack was looking at. Next to the grocery store was Karen talking with Rick. Rick held a bottle of wine in his hand. 

"I bought this for you Karen," Rick said to her and her face turned bright red. 

"Thank you so much Rick! I love wine!" She took the bottle and gave Rick a hug. 

That gives me an idea, Jack thought to himself. He turned back to Harris. "On second thought, why don't you show me where the winery is?" 

Harris gave Jack a funny look. "You like to drink Jack? Hmm well okay, it's right this way..." 

As they were walking to the winery they came across a little boy who was laying on the ground crying. 

"Hey little guy what's wrong?" Jack asked. 

"I fell down," He cried. 

"Oh here," Jack pulled out the bandaid that he got from Elli and handed it to the little boy. "Put this on your cut," 

"Thank you." The boy put it on his cut and smiled a little. "I'm Stu." 

Just then Elli walked up to everyone, looking very concerned. "What happened Stu? Boys shouldn't cry like that. Oh hello Jack! Did you help my little brother? Why didn't you use that bandaid I gave you?" 

"Oh well the cut wasn't that bad. It's a good thing I didn't use it, because Stu needed it more." Jack smiled. 

"Thank you Jack. Did you say thank you to the nice man Stu?" 

"Yeah." 

"Then you better go home now Stu. I'll talk to you later Jack!" Elli walked off towards the clinic and Stu went into his house. 

Harris and Jack continued on to the winery, which happened to be right next door to the blacksmith's shop. "Well here it is. I gotta get back to work, I'll see you around Jack!" Harris walked off. 

Jack walked into the winery to find Duke getting ready for work. "Hey there Jack! If you want to buy something you should go talk to my wife, Manna. She's in this room." Duke opened the door and Jack walked inside. 

"Well hello!" Duke's wife said. She was a short woman, with shoulder length black hair. "You must be Jack! Duke has mentioned your name a few times around here. It's so great to finally meet you! (Jack: Uhh I've only been here for a day..) It must be really hard working on that farm. (Jack: I haven't even started yet...) I've heard it's a mess! But I think your grandfather would be really proud of you. To think, you are so young, yet you took up the responsibility to work on that farm all by yourself, with no help at all! (Jack: Does this woman ever stop talking?!) Oh dear, I started babbling again haven't I?? Well then, you obviously came here looking for wine! What can I do for you?" 

Finally! I didn't think she would ever stop talking, Jack thought to himself. "Well I was wondering how much wine was here?" 

"Oh! Wine is 300 G and grape juice is 200 G!" 

Jack looked in his pocket. He had 500 G, and he still needed seeds. _If you are running low on cash I suggest you ship things you find on the back hill such as fruits and grasses._ That's it! He could go to Mother's Hill and ship some of that fruit and stuff that Zack was telling him about this morning. What a great idea! Now he could get his seeds and a nice present for Karen... 

"I'll be back tomorrow!" Jack turned around and ran out of the winery. 

Jack spent the rest of the day wandering around the back hill searching for different things he could sell in the shipping bin. He found bamboo shoots and blue grass. "I wonder how much this stuff is worth?" Jack said outloud to himself, as he examined what was in his hands. 

"The blue grass is worth 100 G, and the bamboo shoots are 50 G a peice." Jack looked up, and standing there was a tall man with brown hair and a busy brown beard. 

"Are you the woodcutter?" Jack asked. 

"Yes I am. The name's Gotz, you must be Jack. Nice to meet you." Gotz looked at his watch. "Well if you are going to be shipping that stuff, I would hurry. It's almost five o'clock!" 

"Thanks Gotz!" Jack carefully put everything in his rucksack and ran back to his farm. He placed everything in the shipping bin just as Zack was approaching the farm. 

"Taking advantage of my suggestion eh? Well here ya go, 350 G for two blue grass and three bamboo shoots." 

Jack took the money and smiled. "Thanks Zack!" He placed the money in his pocket with his other 500 G. Zack left the farm and Jack walked into his house. It was still pretty early, but seeing as he had to get up early again tomorrow he decided to go to bed... 

Jack's third day on the farm started out just like the day before. He woke up early, six o'clock. He got up and changing into his overalls and turned out the TV. _Tomorrow we will see a few spring showers..._ He flipped the TV off. Time to get to work.. 

Jack walked outside to see Harris walking up to his house. "Hey Jack. There has been a suspicious looking man wandering around town today. He is wearing a yellow jacket and sunglasses. Watch out for him." Harris quickly left the farm before Jack could say anything. 

He shrugged, and decided to go up to the hill to find some more stuff to ship. He cut across his farm and started across the bridge when a man wearing a yellow jacket and sunglasses approached him. 

"Hello, I am a traveling salesman. My name's Won. Could I rest here for a little while?" 

"Uh I guess so," Jack looked around. Could he really trust this guy? 

"Don't worry. I will not disturb you. I just need to rest before I find a decent place to sell my items." Won continued walking and sat down next to on of the trees. 

Jack spent the morning gathering things on the hill to ship at the shipping bin. Around lunch time he walked back to his farm with his goods. Won was gone and the farm seemed fine. He placed the goods in the shipping bin and walked into the town. 

Just as he was walking up towards the winery Manna walked out. "Oh hello Jack! Did you come to buy something? We are only open between 9AM-12 because afterwards I like to take my afternoon walk and talk to the other woman of the town. 

"I didn't know that. Manna can you please sell me a bottle of wine before you leave? I really need it now." Jack said. 

"I guess I could. I hope your not a raging alcoholic! Because if you are you know I'm not allowed to sell you any wine!" 

"I'm not! It was going to be a present..." 

"For Karen!!" Manna quickly said before Jack could even finish. 

"How did you know?" Jack asked curiously. 

"Well she is the only girl in town who likes wine. Well then, I'll be right back." Manna walked into the store, but came quickly back out carrying a bottle of wine. "That will be 300 G." Jack handed her the money. "I think that is so cute! You are already trying to woo a girl to marry you! (Jack: Wait a sec...) I remember when Duke was trying to woo me to marry him. It feels like it was just yesterday! Why he would bring me a bottle of his homemade wine almost everyday and then we would go out for walks. At night he would take me out to the inn. Back then Doug's wife was still alive and she used to make the best food! We would go there to eat dinner, and socialize with the other young people of the town... (Jack: If I don't leave now, I'll be here all day) 

"Well I better get going. Thank you Manna!" Jack ran off in the direction of the grocery store. 

"Oh dear, was I babbling again??" 

Jack walked into the grocery store, and walking around the back was Karen. Jack smiled and slowly approached her. 

"Hi. Can I help you?" She asked. 

"Well, uh... I... I got this... for you.." Jack brought out the bottle of wine and handed it to her. 

"Wow, thank you. I like this very much." Her face was bright red. 

Jack smiled, his face was also a little red. "Ummm well I'm glad you like it.... " 

Karen smiled a little. "Do you like wine too?" Jack nodded. "Well every Tuesday and Sunday I go to the inn at nights for a drink. You should join me sometime when you get the chance." 

"Okay, maybe I'll go tonight..." Jack fixed his hat. "Uhhh could you tell me where the seeds are?" 

"Yes. They are on that table in the middle." Karen pointed to it. 

"Thanks." Jack walked over to the table and looked at the seeds. There were cucumber, potato, turnip, and grass seeds. Jack picked up a couple bags of each and walked to the counter where Jeff was standing. Jack handed him the money and Jeff looked surprised. 

"Wow! Someone is paying upfront!" Jeff cried. Karen looked over and smiled. 

"I'll never buy on credit. Bye Jeff, bye Karen," Jack's face was still red when he left the grocery store. 

Jack wandered around the town, still trying to figure out where he was going. He ended up in the middle of Rose Square, where Harris was standing. Jack approached him. 

"Hey Harris, there was some strange guy at my farm this morning..." 

"Wearing yellow clothing, sunglasses, and carrying a bag?!" 

"Yeah that's him." Jack replied. 

"Well I better go catch him!" Harris ran off in the direction of Jack's farm. Just then Won walked up to Jack. 

"I just wanted to thank you for letting me rest at your farm. I don't think this town is the right place for me to be. I must rest again." He sat down on the bench that was next to Jack. Jack ran off after Harris. 

Once again Jack got lost, and found himself near Mother's Hill. He continued walking until he found Gotz's house. Standing outside was Harris. Jack walked up to him. 

"Hey Jack, that guy wasn't at your farm..." 

"That's because he is at Rose Square." Jack replied. 

"Then I must go find him!" Harris started to walk off in the direction of Rose Square when Won once again approached Jack. 

"We keep running into each other. I am so lost..." Harris noticed Won talking to Jack. 

"Hey! You! Your the suspicious man with the yellow clothing." Harris walked over and grabbed his bag. "I must inspect this bag at once!" 

"Hey! I'm not a bad guy here. I'm just a peddler!." Won cried. 

Harris finished looking through his bag. "It's just seeds..." 

"See I told you! I'm just a wandering salesman, I'm trying to find a place to sell my items." 

"I'm very sorry," Harris apologized. "Why don't you go to the inn? I'm sure Doug would let you sell your things there. And to show that I am truly sorry for suspecting you I should buy something. You sell flower seeds right?" 

"Yes I do. How would you like to buy this apple for 500G???" 

"Maybe I should take you in..." Harris grumbled. 

"I was only kidding! Thank you for everything," Won walked off. 

When Jack finally returned to his farm, he began to clear away the area around the shipping bin. That would probably be the best place to start planting his crops, that way he would not have to walk far when he was putting his produce in the shipping bin. 

Jack continued working until after sunset. He was able to get the area cleared and hoed, his crops planted and watered. He looked at his watch. It was almost seven o'clock. Time to go see Karen! 

Jack cleaned himself off a little bit to make sure he was presentable, then he walked to the inn. Just as he was getting there a crowd of people were going in. He walked inside behind everyone. 

When he walked in and standing right near the door was Ann. "Welcome, welcome!" She said cheerfully. "If you would like to order something please talk to my dad." 

Jack turned to see Karen standing at the counter. She had a drink in front of her. Jack slowly walked over to her and smiled. "Hi Karen." 

"Oh Hello Jack. Are you drinking tonight?" She asked. 

"Probably..." Jack walked over to Doug. "How much are the drinks?" He asked. 

"Wine is 500 G and water is free. 

Jack looked his pocket. He spent all his money on seeds. "Umm can I just get a water?" Doug handed him a glass of water and Jack walked back over to Karen. 

Karen laughed when she looked in his cup. "Water??" 

"Yeah well I spent all my money at your dad's store." Jack replied. 

"I see..." 

Rick walked in just then, and Karen walked over to him. "Hello Rick!" 

"Hey Karen. You want me to buy you a drink?" 

"Oh Rick... I already got one!" 

Jack rolled his eyes and went to sit down at one of the empty tables. Ann noticed this and walked to the table and sat down next to Jack. 

"Hey... Jack.." She smiled, hopeing she got his name right. 

"Hey Ann...." 

"I haven't seen you come to the inn at night before, what's the occasion?" She asked. 

"Just felt like getting a drink," Jack replied. 

"Oh that's good. Well I have to get back to work. Bye Jack!" Ann got up and walked back over to the counter. Jack sighed and got up. He walked over and gave Doug his empty glass and left the inn. 

Two days later Jack was still a little depressed about what happened at the inn. He got up early again, and went to work watering his crops. When he was all done he decided to check out the prices of the livestock at the poultry farm and Yodel Farm. 

His first stop was the Poultry Farm. Standing outside was Karen and Rick. They looked like they were having a fight. Jack moved so that they would not see him, but so that he could hear what they were talking about. 

"Me and Popuri got in a fight again today," Rick said. 

"Was it about Kai again? You shouldn't interfere in her life." 

"Well dad went out looking for a rare medicine for Mom, so I'm the only one around here that can take care of Popuri! And I don't want her around him ever!" 

"You should give Kai a chance," Karen replied. 

"Hey! I have an idea. What do you think of Jack? Maybe we could get Jack and Popuri together so that she can forget about that loser Kai..." 

"Rick! I don't think you should go interfering in Popuri's life like that. Kai isn't someone you need to worry about." 

"Well then, if Kai's so great then why don't YOU go with him!" Rick grumbled. 

"Oh you cad!" Karen turned around and walked away. 

"Oh now Kai's the good guy and I'm the cad..." 

Jack moved out of his hiding spot and walked over to Rick. "Hey Rick, could you tell me how much you guys are selling chickens for?" 

"One thousand G." Rick mumbled and walked back into his house. 

"Okay, thanks man, " Jack said sarcastically, and continued on the the Yodel Farm. 

Standing outside was Barley, the owner of the farm, and his granddaughter May. They were examining a pony that still looked very young. 

"It doesn't look happy," Barley said. 

"It's still a pony." May replied. 

"I guess your right. But I can't take care of it. I have all those other animals to take care of." 

"I can take care of it!" 

"Oh May, that's kind of you, but you are still too young." Barley looked up and saw Jack standing there watching them. "Hey Jack! Come over here." Jack walked over. "You have a horse?" Jack shook his head. "Well then, do you think you could take care of this one for us? We don't have enough room for it. If you take care of it, I'll find some way to pay you back." 

"Alright." Jack replied. 

"Thank you Jack! Please name him!" May cried. 

"I think I'll name him... Charlie." 

"That's a nice name." May said. 

"Okay Jack, I'll take him to your farm." Barley took the horse and left. 

"Hey May, how much are the livestock here?" Jack asked. 

May replied, "Well the cows are 6,000 G, and the sheep are 4,000 G." 

"Okay thanks May!" Jack left the farm. 

Jack decided his next stop would be the beach. He hadn't been there at all. When Jack got there, no one was on the beach, but he could see a man sitting at the end of the dock. He approached the man at the end of the dock. He was an older man, with dark skin and gray hair. 

"Hello there," the man said to him. "I'm Greg the fisherman. Who might you be?" 

"I'm Jack." 

"Well nice to meet you Jack. Do you like to fish?" 

"Yeah it's kinda fun." Jack replied. 

"It's nice to find another person who likes fishing like I do. I want you to have this," Greg hands him a fishing pole. "It's my extra one. It's not that great, but you can catch some decent size fish with it. 

"Thanks!" Jack smiled and looked at his new fishing pole. 

"Hey why don't you fish with me. I get lonely fishing out here by myself all the time." 

"Alright." Jack sat down and started fishing. He spent the rest of the day fishing with Greg. He even caught a few fish. He took those back to the shipping bin to sell. When Jack was all finished he went into his house and laid down on his bed. 

_This is going to be a long three years...._

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	3. Dateless....... For the Spring Goddess F...

**Part 3: Dateless...... for the Spring Goddess Festival!**

The sun was extremely bright on that morning of Spring 7th. The rays shone through the only window in Jack's house, waking him up at exactly 6 a.m. that morning. "I hate getting up so early, " He mumbled to himself and he slowly rose out of his bed. 

Sitting on his table was the sandwich he made the day before. He starred at it for a while as he waited for his eyes to focus. Once he could clearly see he leisurely walked over to the table and ate his sandwich, most likely his only meal for the day. 

Jack stepped outside and observed his farm. For only a week's worth of work, it looked very good. He walked over to the mailbox and pulled it open with a loud CREAK. "I'm gunna have to oil that now," Jack groaned. He reached inside, and to his surprise, he found a small note. It read: 

_NOTICE! The Spring Goddess Festival will be held on Spring 8th at 10 a.m. in Rose Square. It will be a time of fun and dancing. Ladies please don't forget to wear your costumes for the Spring Goddess Dance. Men- escort your favorite lady to the festival. Everyone's invited! Come and have fun! -The Mayor_

Spring Goddess Festival? Never heard of it, Jack thought to himself. Maybe I can ask Karen to go with me.. 

Jack hastily finished his farm chores so that he could go to the grocery store early, before anyone else could ask Karen. He put his watering can away in his rucksack and walked over to the grocery store... 

He was there within ten minutes. I've never walked so fast in my life, Jack thought. He slowed his pace down as he approached the grocery store, and Karen came into view. She looked more beautiful than ever that day, or so Jack thought. 

The sunlight reflected off her hair, making it look absolutely perfect. She wore her little purple vest and jean shorts. Karen sat on the bench next to her parents store, and she looked as if she were waiting for someone. She smiled slightly, and Jack beamed. 

Just as Jack was about to open his mouth to speak to Karen, a bolt of red went soaring past him, knocking him to the ground. 

"Karen will you go to the Goddess Festival with me tomorrow?!" The bolt of red was Rick. He now stood in front of Karen, with a big stupid grin on his face. Jack was angry. Not only did the jerk knock him over, but he also asked out the girl he wanted to! 

Jack got up off the ground. Rick looked over at him after he realized what he had done. "Oh I'm so sorry Jack." He turned back to Karen to wait for his answer. 

"Sure I'll go with you," She smiled a little until she saw Jack. She looked at him sympatheticly. "Are you okay?" 

"Yeh I'm fine." He turned and walked towards the clinic. I wonder if Elli has a date yet? He wondered to himself... 

Inside the clinic Elli had just walked out from the Doctor's "office". Her face was a light shade of red. She looked at Jack, surprised. 

"Oh Jack, are you here to see the doctor??" 

"Well no...." Jack replied, his eyes shifting around the room. "I was wondering if I could escort you to the Spring Goddess Festival tomorrow?" 

Elli frowned. "That's so nice of you Jack, but I already have a date." 

Jack shrugged. "That's okay, I just thought I would give it a shot. Bye Elli." 

"Goodbye Jack!" Jack turned around and walked out the door. 

So Karen and Elli both already have dates. I wonder who I could ask to go with me now? Jack thought. Maybe Mary.... 

Jack walked down the street towards the library. He pulled open the door and... 

"All that was left was a weed covered field," 

Mary stood inside the library, her back facing Jack. Her dark hair was pulled back in a braid, and it looked like she was reading something out loud from a piece of paper. The noise from the door shutting made her jump. She turned around to see Jack standing there. 

"Oh! Hello Jack, have you come to read a book?" 

"Were you writing something just now?" Jack asked curiously. 

Mary replied, "Well.... yes I was. I like to write in my free time." 

"Do you think I could read it?" 

"No! I mean, it's not done yet." 

"I understand," Jack replied, and he smiled. Mary looked so embarrassed, and Jack couldn't figure out why. "So Mary, have you found a date for the Goddess Festival tomorrow?" 

"Yes I have. Gray asked if he could escort me tomorrow and I said yes." 

"That's really good," Jack replied, trying not to seem disappointed. That was strike three for him. Good thing there were still two more girls he could ask. 

"Did you come to read a book Jack?" 

"You'll let me read what you wrote when you are done, won't you?" Jack requested. 

"If I like it, then yes you may read it." 

"Alright, cool." Jack responded. "I'll talk to you later Mary!" He then walked out of the library. 

Well, Karen, Elli, and Mary all have dates. This sucks, Jack thought to himself. He didn't want to seem desperate, but it would be nice to have a date for the festival. Maybe he could somehow fit in with the townspeople. It may have only been a week, but he couldn't help feeling secluded from the townsfolk. They all already knew each other, and he was just the new guy. I guess I'll have to try a little harder, Jack thought. 

His next stop would be the Poultry Farm, home of Popuri and that jerk Rick. Jack would be alright as long as he was able to avoid seeing Rick. He walked up to the door and was just about to open it when the doors came flying open. 

"Oh! Hello Jack," 

It was Rick. The one person Jack just did not want to see right that moment. "Hello Rick," He replied dryly. 

"Have you come to give us some business?" 

"Not exactly..." Jack began. 

"Oh well, hey, I'm sorry about what happened this morning. I usually don't run people over, especially nice guys like you. I probably would purposely run over guys like Kai. He's the only person I don't like in this village. He comes for the summer, disrupts everything, and then leaves once fall comes. What was I saying? Oh yeh, I'm really sorry about that. It's just that I always take Karen to the Goddess Festival, and I was afraid someone else was going to ask her this year." Rick explained. " 

You didn't think I was going to ask her, did you? I was just doing some shopping this morning, that's all..." he lied. 

"That's cool, so why are you here anyways, if you aren't going to buy anything? Oh wait! You want to ask my little sister to the Goddess Festival!" 

This guy was quick. To avoid wasting anymore time, Jack walked past Rick and partly through the door. 

"You have my permission to ask Popuri!" Rick yelled to Jack. Jack continued on into the house. Rick grinned. Hopefully she'll fall for him and forget about that loser Kai, Rick thought to himself. 

Inside Popuri was walking around the house. Her pink hair was slightly curled, and she was wearing a cute pink dress. This girl loved the color pink. She looked as if she wasn't doing anything really, just amusing herself by walking around the room. Occasionally she looked at her mother, who was standing by the sink doing the dishes. 

"Hey Popuri," Jack smiled at her. 

She placed her hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Hello." Now that he thought about it, Popuri wasn't very pleasant. Maybe she wasn't the right girl to ask to the Goddess Festival. 

"Uhhh you found a date for the festival tomorrow?" 

"As a matter of fact, I have." The girl responded. 

Popuri still had her hand on her hip. She acted as if she didn't really want to talk to Jack. Now he had to find a way to get out of this situation. 

Just then, Popuri's mother turned around. "Popuri! You should be nicer to our costumers. Hello Jack, could I get you anything?" 

"Uhhh yes! Could you tell me how much chickens are?" 

"They are 1,500 G." Lilia replied. 

"Okay thank you." Jack quickly turned around and walked out the door. Then he made a mad dash towards to road so that he would not have to talk to Rick. 

Jack continued down the road, almost lost in thought. He still had no date for the festival, but that wasn't too bad. Being rejected by four girls in a row was hurting his ego though. He looked at his watch. It was late in the afternoon. He decided to stop by the Inn to see how Ann and Doug were doing. 

He pulled open the large inn doors and walked in. Inside Harris the policeman was standing, starring at a picture on the wall. A few feet away from him stood the weirdo salesman Won. Behind the counter was Doug, sitting on a stool. He looked as serious as ever. 

Jack looked over at Doug and nodded his head. "How ya doin Doug?" 

"I'm doing fine, but I don't know about Ann. She still doesn't have a date for the festival tomorrow." Doug replied. 

"Really? Why are you so worried about her getting a date?" Jack questioned. 

"Because I want her to find someone and get married. I think it would be best for her to get married and have a family. I just want the best for her, but she isn't interested in getting married. What do you think Jack?" 

"Ummm well... I think that you should let Ann decide for herself," Jack replied. 

"No no, what I meant was, what do you think about asking her to the Festival?" 

Great, this guy is already making plans for his daughter, without even talking to her first! Next he'll probably plan out her marriage too. "I'm not so sure about that," Jack began. "Don't you think you should talk to Ann first before you plan stuff out like that? Maybe she has someone else in mind. Oh look at the time! I have to go ummm finish the farmwork!" And with that Jack left the Inn. 

Standing at the top of the stairs was Ann. She had heard the whole thing, and her mouth was wide open. She couldn't believe her dad just did that! And this time it was worse, he tried talking a guy into dating her that she didn't even know! He really needed to stop interfering with her love life..... 

Jack walked down the street and through Rose Square until he came upon the beach. By now it was getting dark. He had spent the whole day trying to find a date for the festival, and with no success. He walked across the beach and to the end of the dock. Standing there fishing was the old man Greg. Jack sat down next to him and starred out at the water. 

"Hey there Jack. You catch any large fish yet?" Jack shook his head. "I see. Hey what's wrong with you boy? You look a little distant today." 

"I'm fine," Jack replied. 

"If you say so." 

Jack pulled out his fishing line and cast it into the water. He sat starring at the water, waiting for a bite. He remembered that old saying his father once told him, "There are plently of fish in the sea" and that made him smile. 

Just then he felt a tug at his line. Jack pulled the line out of the water, with some difficulty. At the end was an extremely large fish. 

"Oh look what you got there," Greg said. "That's a pretty big fish." 

Jack took it off the hook and examined it. He wasn't a very big fan of fish, so holding one in his hand kind of grossed him out. 

"So what are you going to do with it now?" Greg asked him while examining the fish. 

Jack shrugged. "I can't do much with this," He held it out towards Greg. "Here, you take it. I know you can do something with it." 

Greg smiled. "Thank you Jack! That was very nice of you!" 

"It's no big deal." Jack replied. Greg still had a smile on his face as he began to clean off his new fish. Jack made a face and put away his fishing pole. 

Across the sea the sun was setting. The sky looked as if it was painted in several shades of red, orange, and yellow. A flock of seagulls flew overhead and Jack stood up. 

"I'm going to be heading home now, Goodnight Greg." Jack turned and walked off. 

The next day was another bright and sunny day. Jack woke up early again, and finished his farmwork quickly. The only thing he had to do today was water anyways. 

Even though he didn't have a date he decided to go to this Spring Goddess Festival anyways. It would be a good opportunity to meet with the other people from the town, and find out more about the customs. Jack put away his tools and cleaned himself up. Then he walked to Rose Square. 

When Jack first got to the square the first thing he noticed was the five girls. EAch of them were standing in a different area, but they were all very noticable. Each girl had on a pink dress. Flowers decorated their hair and the tops of the dresses. Jack wandered around the square admiring all of the costumes. 

Manna and Duke stood together, talking to themselves. "Our daughter never liked this festival," Duke said sadly. 

"Yes I know dear. Aja would have looked so good in one of those costumes, but we could never get it on her! She was never into girly stuff like that, now that I think about it. She always enjoyed sports and guy things more. It's a good thing she left her goddess costume here when she left the village. If she didn't then little Mary wouldn't have anything to wear. Look at her over there Duke! She looks so adorable in that costume. And without her glasses, she looks even more elegant!" 

Jack glanced over at Mary to see what Manna was fusing over. Mary stood a few feet away from her parents. The costume fit her just right, and flowers were decorated in her hair, just like all the other girls. On this particular day she was not wearing her glasses. Jack walked over to her and smiled. 

"You look nice today Mary." 

"Thank you Jack. I hate these gaudy clothes though, but it's good to see what different customs are like." She replied. 

Jack continued wadering around the square. The next group of people he came upon were Rick, Karen, and Popuri. To Jack, Karen looked absolutely beautiful. The costume fit her perfectly and the flowers were decorated in her hair so that the two blonde streaks of hair were able to hang down in front. She had a soft smile on her face. 

Standing across from her was Popuri. She also had on the Goddess Costume and flowers in her hair, but something just didn't look right. Maybe it was her hair. It just seemed like too much pink to him. Jack walked over to talk to the group. 

Popuri spoke up first. "This is the Goddess costume!" She said happily. 

"Look's nice," Jack lied. Then he turned to Karen. "You look great Karen!" 

"Thanks Jack. Will you be staying to watch the dance? I love to dance!" 

"Of course I'll stay and watch," Jack replied, and continued around the square. 

Next Jack came upon Doug, who was standing all alone. Feeling almost sorry for him, Jack decided to chat with him. 

When Doug saw Jack approaching he smiled a little. It was odd to see him smile. Acctually, it was probably the first time Jack had seen him smile since the first day he came here. "Hey Jack, it's good of you to come. Did you talk to Ann yet? Look at her over there. She reminds me of her mother." Jack looked over at Ann. 

Ann was standing with Elli in the corner of the square. Her costume fit her loosely and her hair looked exactly the same except for a few flowers here and there. 

"I think I'll go talk to her now," Jack said and walked over to where Ann was standing. 

Ann looked at him and sighed. "I hate wearing skirts!" She complained. 

"I think it's fun dressing up," Elli added. 

As soon as Elli finished speaking, the mayor's voice could be heard above all the others. "Please everyone listen. The dance will be starting in a few minutes. All the girls please meet in the middle and get ready." 

"Oh I'm so nervous. I hope I don't mess up!" Elli said, and the girls all walked to the middle of Rose Square. 

The five girls all stood in a line with bright smiles on their faces. As soon as the music began, they started to move, back and forth and twirling around. Karen was really getting into the dance, and Ann looked as if she wasn't trying at all. The other girls danced normally, neither looking like they liked the dance, or hated it. When the dance ended everyone began to applaud. The girls bowed, and walked off in seperate directions. The mayor walked into the middle of Rose Square. 

"That will conclude the Spring Goddess Festival. You all may go home now, unless you have a date or other things to do. Thanks for coming everybody!" 

Everyone walked off in their own directions, leaving Jack standing all alone. He wasn't ready to go home yet. It was his first festival in his new town, and it was pretty interesting. It didn't matter that he didn't have a date, he still had fun. 

While he was lost in thought, a person walked up behind him and tapped his shoulder. Jack turned around to find Ann standing and smiling at him. He smiled back. 

"Hi Jack, did you have fun at the festival." She asked. 

"Yeh I did. You looked nice." 

"Oh, yeh right! I hate skirts." She looked down at the ground. "That's not really what I came back here to talk to you about. I heard you talking to my dad yesterday..." 

"Oh," Jack replied. 

"But that was a good thing! I mean.... what I really want to say is, thank you for sticking up for me, even though you don't really know me or my dad." 

"Oh that. It wasn't a big deal." 

"But it was!" Ann said. "He's always interfering with my love life, and it drives me crazy. I know he wants the best for me, but I don't want to get married! I'm happy the way I am now." 

"I understand," Jack replied. 

"Thanks Jack. You don't have a date tonight, do you?" 

"No..." Jack admitted. 

"Well me either. If your not busy, would you like to go to the Goddess Pond with me?" 

"Sure sounds like fun." Jack replied, and grinned. 

She turned to lead him to the pond. 

When they got there everything was dark, and extremely quiet. They walked to the Goddess Pond and starred into the water. 

"This is the Goddess pond," Ann said to Jack. "She's probably sleeping now though." Jack nodded his head. "You know, this is my favorite spot to go. I come up here every morning and hang out over there by the river." She pointed to the river and the spot where she hangs out. 

"Really? I'll have to come up here and visit you in the mornings then." 

"It's really late," Ann stated. "Should we go home now?" 

"I guess so. Do you want me to walk you home Ann?" 

"Umm no thanks. I think I can make it back by myself." She grinned. 

"Okay, bye Ann. Thanks for showing me this place." 

"I should be thanking you again, for sticking up for me and keeping me company up here." Ann said. 

They both turned and walked their seperate ways. Jack returned to his house. He pet his dog and smiled. 

_Today was a really fun day. I got to attend my first festival. It was really interesting to see how old traditions are still around. Ann was fun to hang out with too. She even looked cute in that skirt..._

Author's note: So what do you guys think so far? I know it's not the most exciting story ever, but hopefully it will get better. Please be kind and review! If I get enough positive feedback from you guys then I'll continue putting up more parts on this site. 

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	4. Thoughts of Jack

Untitled

**Chapter 4: Thoughts of Jack**

It had been only a little over a week since Jack had moved to the village, but he had already made a small impression on the townspeople. Each person had their own opinion of him already, but what exactly did everyone think about this mysterious man who had come to live on the old farm? 

Early in the morning on Spring 9th, Ann stood in her usual spot by the river. She, of course, was thinking about the events of the past two days. She liked Jack, she thought he was a cool guy. Never had anyone ever stood up to her father for her like that, even if he didn't exactly mean to. He was also really fun to hang out with. She only hoped that her dad wouldn't get any ideas about him... 

At that same time Popuri was also up on the Mountain, just a few feet from Ann, by the hot springs. She didn't really have an opinion about Jack. She knew he came from the city, and was interested in talking to him about that. But other than that, she didn't think much of him. Her mind was on Kai, the boy who came to the village during the summer. She was desperate to get out of that village, and believed that he was her way out. 

Just then, Gotz walked past on his way up the mountain. Gotz hasn't been talked about much yet, but he was the woodcutter and only carpenter in the village. He didn't know a thing about Jack, nor did he care. He hoped that Jack would give him some more business, seeing as it had slowed down quite a bit in the past few weeks. He walked up the mountain to collect some food, then walked back down to his house. 

Just as Gotz was entering his house, Rick was leaving his. Rick really liked Jack. He believed Jack was a lot better than that good for nothing Kai. Jack would make a better husband for Popuri, Rick thought. If only there was some way he could get Jack and Popuri together, then she would forget about that loser Kai. Or so Rick thought. Rick smiled when he got to his destination, which was the grocery store. 

Standing outside the grocery store was Karen. She smiled when she saw Rick, and he walked over to her. He didn't say anything, as if he was lost in thought. Karen believed that Jack was a nice guy. He didn't drink, and that made him a little boring to her, but even so, she still believed he was a nice guy. He was kinda cute too. Although, she didn't like how he starred at her. But then again, Rick did the same thing, so she didn't know what that meant. She shrugged it off and began chatting with Rick... 

Next door Elli and the Doctor were inside. The doctor was busy working at his desk. He didn't know Jack at all yet, but liked the idea of having a farmer in the town. Maybe Jack could help him with his medical research? 

Elli stood behind the receptionists desk. She too was thinking about Jack. She thought he was an extremely nice and considerate person, especially after what happened with her little brother. Only nice guys helped little kids like that. He would probably make a good father, but not like she thought of him like that... 

Inside the Inn, Doug was just opening things up. He wasn't too sure about Jack. Never had anyone told him to let Ann decide for herself. Doug wanted his daughter to marry a nice man who would be able to support her. Jack might be the perfect guy... 

Outside the Library Mary was just opening up. She hardly knew Jack and wondered if he liked books. Books were her life, she loved to spend hours reading them. Mary wondered why Jack had asked so much about her writing the other day. She didn't think much of it. It was just something fun she liked to do. Maybe she would let him read it someday. 

Inside the winery Manna and Duke were in their kitchen. They had just finished breakfast. Duke was sitting at the table and Manna was doing the dishes. "Have you met Jack yet? He's such a nice boy. He lives just down the street at the old farm. You should really talk to him sometime. He's a nice boy! I know I really like him. He's even given us some business already. He came by the other day to buy some wine for Karen. I wonder why he's giving gifts to Karen? It's not her birthday! Young love is so sweet, but how could he be in love already? He just moved here. What do you think about all this Duke?" She waited for a response, but he didn't reply. "Duke?!" Manna turned around to find herself alone in an empty kitchen. 

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	5. City Talk

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**Chapter 5: City Talk**

It was a beautiful sunny day, just a few days after the Spring Goddess Festival. Jack had worked himself day and night for over a week and decided it was time for a break. He ventured into the back hill. 

Jack walked up towards the hot springs and sat down on a tree stump. Next to him was some green grass, so he picked it up and began to eat it. It wasn't too bad tasting, he decided. 

"Ick! You actually eat that stuff?!" 

Jack looked up to see Popuri standing next to him. She was making one of her weird faces at him. "It's not too bad, you wanna try some?" he asked. 

"Yuck! I don't really like that stuff." Popuri walked over to the hot spring and paced back and forth in front of it. 

A few minutes later Ann walked up the steps and smiled when she saw Jack sitting on the tree stump. "Good morning Jack!" she said cheerfully. 

"Hey Ann." Jack replied. "Want some?" He held up part of the blue grass he was eating. 

"I love to eat but.... nothing that's just found on the ground!" She giggled a little. "I've never seen you come up here before Jack. Are you taking a break?" 

"Yeh, I really needed one. I thought this would be the perfect spot to relax. I didn't know that you and Popuri came up here in the morning." Jack replied. 

"Oh cool! Can I umm.. 'relax' with you??" Ann asked. 

"Sure." Jack said. 

Popuri overheard Jack's conversation with Ann and suddenly felt herself becoming jealous. She didn't really like him, but for some reason she really wanted his attention. Popuri walked over to where Jack and Ann were sitting and tapped him on the shoulder. 

Jack turned around. "Yeh Popuri??" 

"Will you tell me about the city?" Popuri asked. 

"Sure. What do you want to know about?" 

"Everything!" Popuri got an excited look in her eye. She always dreamed about going to the city, and anywhere that wasn't Mineral Village. 

"The city.. well I grew up there. And I have one thing to tell you first. Living in the city was different, but not better than living here. You have a good life here Popuri. This town is really great. Don't you think so Ann?" 

"I love it here." Ann replied. 

"That's nice. Tell me more about the city." Popuri demanded. 

"Well..." Jack began. "It's never quiet. It's too crowded and noisey. I like it better here." 

"I know that! Tell me something good about the city." Popuri was getting a little impatient. Why couldn't this guy just answer her question? 

"The good things about the city? Uh well.. there are nice parks there. And the street vendors always have good food." Jack grinned. 

"It sounds like a great place!" Popuri said, thinking about what the city would be like with her in it. 

"Just remember what I said about it. It's different, but not better than living here." Jack replied. 

"Hey it was nice talking with you guys, but I gotta get to work now." Ann stood up. "Bye!" 

"Bye Ann!" Jack and Popuri said at the same time. They turned to look at each other. Popuri had a wide eyed excited look on her face. "Tell me more!" she demanded again. So Jack told her more. He told her things about his childhood, and his favorite places in the city he grew up in. 

When afternoon arrived Karen walked up the stairs towards the hot spring. She went there every tuesday afternoon, and this tuesday was no exception. But to her surprise, when she got to the top of the steps she found Popuri and Jack together. Now she usually didn't feel like this, but when she saw them together she felt a little jealous. 

Karen walked over to them and smiled. "Hey guys, what are you talkin' about?" 

"The CITY!" Popuri said. 

"That's interesting. Didn't you used to live in the city Jack?" Karen asked him. 

Jack grinned. He loved when Karen talked to him directly like this. "Yeh I did." 

"Tell me more!" Popuri demanded once again. 

"Alright Popuri. You want to join too Karen?" Karen nodded and sat down with them. 

The more Jack talked the more he began to like spending time with Popuri. She might have been very demanding, but no one else loved to hear his childhood stories as much as her. He found it interesting that she was so interested in going to the city, and seeing other places in the world. Unlike her, Jack was content on living in Mineral Village. 

Karen sat down next to Jack on the side opposite of Popuri. She starred up at him the whole time he talked. Jack was kinda cute, even with that giggly Popuri hanging all over him. His stories were even more interesting than Rick's. 

After talking for about an hour Karen looked at her watch. "Oh no, I have to go home now. It was nice talking to you guys. Hey Popuri, if you want to know more about the city maybe you should go to the library. I think Mary and Gray could tell you some things about it." Karen got up and walked away. 

Jack watched her walk away. He really thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She turned around a couple times to look back at him, then continued on her way. That's when Popuri began tugging on Jack's shirt. 

"Can we go to the Library?!" She asked, and gave Jack the sad eyes. 

"Yeh I guess so. " 

"Yay!" Popuri jumped up and pulled Jack with her. Together they walked through Jack's farm and towards the town library. 

When they walked into the library Mary almost fell out of her chair at the sight of other people other than Gray coming into the library. And of all people, Jack and Popuri. Mary slide off her chair and walked over to them. 

"Welcome to the Library. It's nice to see you Jack, Popuri. You guys don't usually come here..." 

"Hi Mary!" Popuri said cheerfully. 

"What brings you here today?" Mary asked. 

"Popuri wants to know more things about the city." Jack replied. 

"Yeh! Karen said you and Gray might know some stuff since she heard you guys lived there once." Popuri told Mary. 

In the very back corner of the library Gray overheard their talking. He did once live in a city. He even thought that he liked it better. But even so, after living here for a few weeks and meeting Mary, Gray decided that he liked living in a small town better. Even if he had to put up with his grouchy grandfather. 

"Hey Gray," Mary said quietly. "Will you come here for a few minutes. Popuri wants to know some stuff about the city. Will you tell her about the city you are from?" 

"Uh sure." Gray said plainly. Gray walked over to where everyone else was standing. "What do you want to know Popuri?" 

"EVERYTHING!" 

Gray sighed. "Alright." He began to tell her things about the city he grew up in. 

Jack turned around and looked at Mary. "I haven't forgotten about your story. Will you let me read it now?" He gave her one of his biggest grins. 

Mary blushed a little. "I-I'm not done with it yet." 

"Alright, but don't forget, you said I could read it." Jack winked at her. 

"I know, I know." Mary was still blushing. Even though she had a thing for Gray, Jack still made her blush bright red. 

"Uh that's all I can tell you about the city I grew up in. I like this village better anyways." Gray told Popuri. 

"Geeze! You sound just like Jack. This town bites. And his stories were more interesting anyways!" Popuri started to pout. "Can you take me home now?" 

Jack looked at Mary and Gray. Gray groaned and walked to the back of the library. "Well I guess we'll see you guys around." Jack and Popuri walked out of the library and towards the Poultry Farm. 

Outside the Poultry Farm Rick was standing in the street with a stern look on his face. "Popuri!!! Where have you been?!" The look on his face changed when he saw who Popuri was with. 

"I was with Jack all day! I didn't want to work today." Popuri replied. 

"Popuri! You know you are supposed to work on tuesdays. We only have Sundays off!" Rick scolded. 

"Oh Rick I hate you!!" Popuri ran past Rick and into their house. 

"So what did you guys do today?" Rick asked Jack before Jack had a chance to get away. 

This guy's real nosey, Jack thought to himself. "She asked me to take her to the Library. I have to go now, bye Rick." Jack walked away. 

"The Library huh?" Rick looked confused. He thought Popuri hated that place... 

~~ 

Later that night Jack was getting ready for bed. He played with his dog a little and checked out the weather forcast. It was going to rain for the next couple of days. Then Jack went into his bag. He wanted to make sure he brought in all of his tools. 

After searching through his bag Jack realized that his hoe was missing.... 

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	6. Thanksgiving.... in the Middle of Spring...

Author's note: I didn't realize that people still wanted me to actually write this. It's been quite a few months since I've even thought about it. I decided that I am going to continue it. Please keep on reading, and reviewing. I won't continue unless I know there are still people out there who are interested. Thanks! :)  
  
  
Chapter 6: Thanksgiving... in the Middle of Spring?!  
  
  
It was another bright and sunny day in Mineral Village. Turns out the weather forecast was wrong for that week. Stupid weathermen. Jack got up extra early because he knew his crops would be ready to sell today. He scarfed down his breakfast and ran outside. Yep, all the crops were ready for picking.   
  
He took his time, making sure each one was placed gently into the shipping bin. He didn't want to risk ruining one and making it not worth anything. He knew that every penny would count, especially on this farm.  
  
A few hours later he was finally done. He knew he would get full value for everything he placed into the shipping bin. It was actually still early, and there wasn't anything else he could plant. He would have to wait until tomorrow to buy seeds.   
  
"Time to go take a walk around town." Jack said to himself. He was starting to become accustomed to doing that, there really wasn't anyone else he could talk to, except maybe his dog.   
  
Today the town seemed extremely quiet. As Jack approached Duke and Mana's house, he noticed the goofy looking red haired kid coming out of it. It was Rick, and he was carrying a bottle of wine.   
  
"Hello Jack," he said with a smile and a wink, and continued on in the direction of... the supermarket.   
  
Jack was now suspicious, so he quickened his pace to keep up with Rick. He turned down the street and kept just far enough away where they wouldn't be able to see him. Standing outside was Karen, almost as if she was waiting for Rick to arrive. To Jack, she was looking as beautiful as ever. She smiled brightly when Rick approached. He handed her the bottle of wine, and also a plate of cookies.  
  
Karen threw her arms around Rick and gave him a long hug. Jack could feel the envy growing inside of him as he watched this pathetic scene. Rick was showering her with gifts. It made Jack feel sick. After a few minutes of talking Rick walked away and Karen went inside to put away her gifts.  
  
Jack's face was red with anger. How could she like that red haired dork? She probably only likes him because he is always giving her stuff, Jack decided. He continued down the street and towards the Inn. He needed a cold one to calm his nerves.  
  
"Water."   
  
It was all that he could afford. Lucky enough, it was free. Ann's dad handed him a cold glass of water and Jack sat down and pouted by himself.  
  
Just then, Ann burst into the house. "WHY I NEVER!!" She stopped yelling when she saw Jack. "Oh... Jack! What are you doing here so early?"  
  
"A little depressed, that's all," Jack replied.  
  
"Depressed?! You just got into town not that long ago."  
  
"Why does Rick always give presents to Karen?"  
  
Ann laughed. "Because he likes her, duh! Did you see him giving her gifts today?"  
  
"Yeah I did." Jack replied.  
  
"That's because today is the Girl's Thanksgiving Festival."  
  
"The what?"  
  
"The Girl's Thanksgiving Festival! Guys go around and give presents to their special ladies. Sounds cool huh?"  
  
"What kind of presents?"  
  
"Hmm..." Ann thought for a moment. "It's been a while since I've gotten anything, but I think the main gift is cookies. Yep, that's it. Cookies."  
  
"Damn... I don't have a kitchen." Jack muttered to himself.  
  
"What? Did you just say you don't have a kitchen? That's okay! I'll help you make cookies!"  
  
"Huh? I didn't even ask..."  
  
"Who said you had to ask? I love cooking!" Ann pulled Jack up and dragged him towards the back of the inn. "We have a big kitchen, so we can make lots of cookies."  
  
"If you really want to..."  
  
"Of course I do!"   
  
They enter the kitchen and Jack looks around. It was huge. But of course it was, it was the kitchen for the Inn. Ann was running around getting all the ingredients ready and turning on the ovens.  
  
"What were you yelling about when you first came back?" he asked her.  
  
"Oh that? Well I was at the hot springs talking with Popuri and all she could talk about was how no one was going to give her any gifts today because Kai isn't in town during the spring. It gets annoying after a while. She doesn't even realize that some girls haven't gotten anything in years." She blushed sheepishly, and continued gathering the ingredients.   
  
That's when Jack got an idea. "Hey Ann, I don't want to be rude, but I'd like to make 6 batches of cookies."  
  
"Six?! Wow.. okay!"  
  
They got to work making six batches of cookies. It took them a couple of hours to complete. When they were finally done...  
  
"Thanks Ann. Here, this one is for you to keep."  
  
"For me?!" she acted surprised.   
  
"Yes, for you. I know it's kinda cheap because you helped me make them, but I think you should have it."  
  
"Thank you Jack!" She gave him a quick hug. Then he picked up the other five plates of cookies and left the Inn.  
  
His first stop was... the Poultry Farm. It would be a neat surprise for Popuri to get a present on Thanksgiving. He knocked on the door. It was opened by Popuri.  
  
"Hello, oh! Hi Jack!"  
  
Jack handed her a plate of cookies. "These are for you. Happy Thanksgiving."   
  
"Oh thank you Jack! You're so nice!" Popuri was so excited that she shut the door in his face to go tell her mom and brother what she got. Jack wasn't angry, he just laughed and continued on his way.   
  
His next stop was the library. Mary deserved a plate of cookies on Thanksgiving, even if he barely knew her. Maybe this would help to open her up a little. Jack walked into the library and set a plate of cookies down in front of Mary. She jumped up and almost fell onto the floor in surprise.  
  
"O-oh! J-jack! Are these for me?"  
  
"Of course they are Mary. It's Thanksgiving today, and I feel you deserve some cookies."  
  
"They look wonderful. T-thank you Jack."   
  
Jack's next stop was the clinic. He set down a plate of cookies on the desk that Elli was sitting at. She looked up, also surprised. "Hi Jack."  
  
"I've got a plate of cookies here with your name on it."  
  
Elli looked at the plate. "This doesn't have my name on it." She smiled, and blushed a little. "Thank you Jack!"  
  
Jack's last stop was, of course, the supermarket. He had made 2 batches of cookies for Karen. That would be one more than Rick's. He walked in to see Karen walking around. Everytime he saw her she looked more and more beautiful. He couldn't help but stare.  
  
"Can I help you?"  
  
And he was pulled back to reality. Karen was standing in front of him now, with a scowl on her face. "I baked these for you." Jack stuttered, and handed her the two plates of cookies.  
  
Karen just stood looking at them for a moment. All these cookies.... And to think, she doesn't even like them. Oh well, it was Thanksgiving after all.. "Thank you Jack!" she said as cheerfully as she could. "Thank you so much. I'll have to give you something on the guy's thanksgiving festival."  
  
Jack just smiled, turned around, and left the store. "SCORE!" ;) 


	7. The Missing Hoe

**A/N:** Wow it's been 4 years since I updated this story. Oops. Well you know how things go, I started to write this chapter about a year or so ago and I found it recently on my hard drive and decided to finish it up. I hope to actually keep up with the chapters this time around and finish the story! As always, read and review! I know it's been a long time!

Chapter 7 The Missing Hoe

Tell me stories about the city… 

Jack suddenly awoke from dreams of his childhood. The little girl he once played with on the back hills…could she be Popuri? That little girl was also interested in hearing stories of the city. Jack found it hard to remember her name. The more he thought the more he realized that he didn't even recognize what she looked like. If that little girl was Popuri then why can't he remember playing with a little girl with pink hair!

Jack got up and started to dig through his toolbox. He couldn't remember for the life of him where he had left his hoe. After searching the entire house and around his field he decided that it might be time to go to pay the blacksmith a visit. He wasn't going to find that hoe anywhere.

While walking to the blacksmith on that bright and sunny spring morning Jack could hear screaming and yelling coming from his neighbors home. Jack slowed down his pace so that he could hear what they were saying but not slow enough to look suspicious.

It was Popuri and Rick arguing with each other. Peaking around the corner Jack could see Popuri waving her arms around in the air. Rick was scolding her.

"Popuri! How could you forget to put this ONE chicken away! Now it's dead because of you!"

"Oh Rick, I hate you!" Popuri sobbed and took off running away from him.

Jack just shrugged and continued to the Blacksmiths shop. He wasn't too sure what to think about his neighbors yet. Popuri just seemed really irresponsible and Jack definitely did not like Rick, but for obvious other reasons.

Inside the blacksmith and Gray were moving around, working on new tools. From behind him Jack could hear a nervous woman's voice say to him, "Oh h-h-hello Jack." Jack turned around to see Mary standing there in the doorway, blushing, adjusting her glasses. "It's a b-b-b-eautiful morning isn't it? Are you here to buy tools from Saibara? He makes excellent tools." She walked past Jack and into the shop.

Gray was the first person to notice her. "Hello Mary." He nodded sheepishly at her and continued to work.

"Hello Saibara, how are you doing this morning?" She asked him.

He just grunted.

"I'm sorry if you are busy, but I thought I would come by and give you this raisin bread I made to thank you for the tools you made for me. They were a big help in fixing up the library." She set the bread down on his table.

"Thank you young lady, that's very kind of you." Saibara continued with his work.

"How are you doing today Gray? Will I be seeing you at the library again today?" Mary asked him.

"Of course, I love to read your books Mary," he replied.

"Oh no Gray! Look!" She ran over to him and examined his arm. "You have a cut on your arm, doesn't that hurt?" She started to rummage through her pockets as if she were looking for something.

"It's no big deal really…" Gray tried to pull his arm away.

"No it is, if you leave it like that it could get infected." She pulled a band aid out from her pocket and put it on his cut.

He blushed a bright red. "Thank you Mary…"

"Umm well okay, I'll see you later Gray!" She turned around and quickly left the shop.

That's when Saibara finally noticed that Jack was there. "You here to buy something?" he asked.

"Well yeh, I lost my hoe and I was wondering if you would be able to make me a new one?"

"Sure can, but it's going to cost you." Saibara continued hammering away and the tool he was making.

Jack shuffled through his pockets to see how much gold he had on him. Lately he had been doing much better for himself, but still not earning a lot. "Is 500 enough?"

Saibara set aside his work for a moment and came over to the counter where Jack was standing. "You don't want anything fancy? Just a regular hoe?" Jack nodded. "Come back tomorrow for it." Saibara took the gold from Jack and pushed him out the door. "I need to concentrate!" The door slammed behind him. Jack stood there for a moment, stunned, and then continued on his way.

Jack found himself wandering around, past his farm and into the forest. It wasn't a busy day for him, nothing needed to be harvested and all the plants were already watered. Remembering that Ann and Popuri liked to sit by the Goddess pond in the morning, Jack wandered up in that direction.

Where he got there he noticed that today only Ann was sitting next to the water. He came up next to her without saying anything at first.

Ann turned suddenly, like she wasn't expecting anyone, and said, "Oh Jack! You are here…"

"Did I interrupt anything?"

"Oh no," Ann shook her head, "I was just thinking that's all."

"What's up?"

"Nothing really, it's just kind of stupid." Ann sighed, and then continued. "The cooking festival is next week and I don't have idea of what to cook this year. It's my chance to prove that I'm just as good of a cook as my father! But I'll never be able to do that if I can't think of what to cook. Then there is the problem of competition from people like Manna and Lilia…"

Jack interrupted, "Wow, sounds like a big thing for you."

Ann nodded. "It is. See if someone else other than my father or I win, well… that just looks bad for the Inn. We are supposed to have the best food in town and if someone else wins, that just means our food is just alright. It's bad for business."

"I think you'll figure something out and even win this year!"

"You really think so Jack? I don't know, my dad is really good. He always thinks up interesting ways to change normal meals and make them even more delicious."

"I wouldn't worry about it Ann," Jack said as he smiled his most reassuring grin. "You just have to have some faith in yourself. I have faith in you."

Ann perked up a bit. "You really mean that Jack?" He nodded. "Wow, nobody has said anything like that to me before and umm…" she was blushing, "I should go now!" Ann stood up and quickly left.

The next day the rain poured down from the sky. Jack looked out his window and wondered if he should attempt to do anything outside. His horse did need to be taken care of, so as soon as it looked like the rain slowed down a bit Jack was outside making his way to the horse barn.

After he was done, Jack began to make his way back to the house. He was fighting the wind and the rain, holding his hat down on his head so that it didn't blow away. Just as he was about to open the door, off in the distance a bit he noticed a blob of red coming towards him. It was flailing its arms trying to get his attention. "Jack! Wait Jack!" It was Rick. He was soaked, his hair dripping down into his face. "Have you seen Popuri!" His arms continued waving around like a madman's.

"No Rick, what is the problem?" Jack walked towards the crazed man.

"It's Popuri! She's gone missing!"

"Calm down Rick. Are you sure she is missing?"

"Yes I am sure Jack! I wouldn't be making such a fuss if I knew where she was! We had a fight yesterday and I don't think she came home last night. I checked everywhere in town. Harris is even going door to door to try to find her. There is no sign of her anywhere! Have you seen her? Is she here?"

Jack thought back to the day before, and remembered that he didn't see Popuri by the Goddess pond where she usually was in the morning. "No Rick, I haven't seen her…"

Rick grabbed Jack's shoulders and began to shake him. "You've got to help me! If anything happens to Popuri…"

"Get ahold of yourself, man!" Jack pushed Rick away. "You have to think rationally if you want to find Popuri. When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday morning. We fought and then she went running off towards your farm."

Towards his farm? Jack saw the fight, he was pretty sure she went running off in the direction of… "Have you had anyone search the forest yet?"

"No, I was going to get Gotz after I came here."

"Okay good, Rick you go get Gotz and search the top of Mother's Hill. I'll search closer to here, around the Goddess lake."

Rick went running off toward Gotz's house. Jack followed behind him, wondering where a girl with bright pink hair would want to hide. He knew she loved the Goddess pond, but there wasn't really anywhere to hide there. There was the hot spring but you can tell when somebody is in there.

When we arrived at the pond he began to search through the bushes, calling Popuri's name. There was no sign of her. He looked around for anything she might of left behind, but with all the rain and the wind it was hard to see. Jack looked towards the cave and approached it, but suddenly stopped.

Listening carefully, he could hear a faint sound of someone crying. It was Popuri! Jack entered the cave, but it was too dark to see. "Popuri? Popuri are you in here?" he called out to her and the crying stopped for a moment. Then it began again. "Popuri! I can't help you if you won't answer me!"

After a few moments, she spoke. "Who… who is there?" she said between sobs.

"It's me Jack. Tell me where you are so I can help you get out."

"I… I don't know. I was angry at Rick and I started to dig and now I'm down a few levels and it's dark and scary and I don't know how to get out!" Popuri started to cry again.

"Hold on Popuri! I'm going to get you out of there. I'll be right back!"

"Hurry Jack! I'm scared…"

Jack ran back to his house and found the flashlight that had been buried at the bottom of his toolbox. He knew it would come in handy someday. Then he started to search through his bag for his hoe, remembering that he had purchased a new one yesterday. He ran out of his house and to Saibara's shop. It wasn't open yet, but that didn't stop Jack from pounding on the door.

"Saibara! Open up! It's an emergency!"

The gruff old man opened the door, looking slightly annoyed. "What is it some kind of farming emergency? Can't it wait until we open?"

"No!"

"Fine." Saibara went back into his shop and emerged with Jack's new hoe. Jack thanked the man and quickly went running off towards the Goddess Pond.

Inside the cave Jack moved quickly to dig his way down to the next floor. He continued talking to Popuri the whole time, asking her questions of how long she had been there and how many floors she thought she was down. Judging from the distance her voice traveled, she couldn't of been down too many floors.

Finally he made it to the floor Popuri was on. He shinned the flashlight around and saw her huddled in the corner, her knees to her chest and her eyes red from crying. Next to her was Jack's missing hoe. He frowned when he saw it, but realized there were more important things to take care of when he saw Popuri get up and move towards him. "Thank you for saving me Jack!" She reached out as if she was going to hug him, but collapsed at his feet before she could do so.

She must have been weak from not eating for a day. Jack picked her up and carried her out of the cave. Outside Rick and Gotz had returned from searching the top of Mother's Hill. Rick looked distraught, until he caught sight of Jack carrying his sister.

"Jack you found her!" Rick yelled and quickly walked towards them. "Is she alright!"

"I think she'll be fine. She needs to eat though, and maybe take a warm bath."

"I'm so glad you are okay Popuri! I'm sorry that I yelled at you yesterday." Rick let out a sigh of relief.

"It's… okay…Rick," Popuri said weakly.

Inside their home, just as Jack was about to set Popuri down in her bed, she stopped him, leaned up, and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for saving me Jack." She smiled a little.

Jack blushed and set her down without saying anything.

I left my hoe down in that cave… 


	8. Ready, Set, COOK!

Chapter 8: Ready, Set…. COOK!

Since saving her from the cave, Popuri had become someone who was part of Jack's every day life. The day after Jack left the shivering Popuri in her warm bed, she came by the farm to give him a gift, to show her appreciation for getting her out of the cave.

It was a small egg, so small that Jack wasn't sure that it would actually produce a chicken. Popuri told him that if left in an incubator it would hatch into a beautiful little chick. She made him promise her that he would name it Popuri.

As days past Jack thought less and less about who the little girl he used to play with was. He was starting to like the girl with the pink hair. He found himself taking breaks early in the morning so he could visit her by the Goddess pond. Popuri found herself frequently visiting Jack's farm and always wanting his attention. He always gave it to her too.

When the Horse Race Festival came, Popuri stopped by Jack's farm in the morning and asked him to escort her to the town square. She held his hand the entire time, dragging him around the square. She couldn't hide her excitement. Jack also couldn't hide his happiness. It was nice to have a beautiful girl holding his hand again. It was obvious to all the villagers just by seeing the permanent grin on his face. At the end of the festival Jack walked her home and Popuri gently kissed his cheek and thanked him for such a fun day.

It was the day before the cooking festival and Jack had just had one of the best weeks of his life. He attributed this to the fact that he had spent every day with the lovely Popuri. Rumor going around the town was that they were dating, and while it felt like it, Jack and Popuri had never made it official between themselves. Jack didn't mind, he was happy with the way things were going.

It felt late, sometime after 6 and Jack decided it was too late to go and visit Popuri. He wasn't tired enough to go to bed, so he figured he would stop off at the Inn to see how Ann was doing. Even though he spent all of his time lately with Popuri, he still wondered how Ann's cooking was coming along. The cooking festival was the next day and he was interested to see if she had figured out a delicious dish that would be able to beat her fathers'.

Jack opened the large doors to the Inn and found it mostly empty. It was probably too early for the night crowd still. Karen stood at the counter sipping her beer slowly. She didn't even look up when Jack entered. Ann was bouncing around cleaning off all the tables to get them ready for the night crew. When she saw Jack a huge grin spread across her face and she walked over to him.

"Hey Jack! You're here." She said cheerfully.

"Hey Ann, how are you doing?"

"Actually I'm really good Jack. I'm excited about the cooking festival." She was still grinning.

"That's great, you figured out what you are going to cook for tomorrow then?" Jack sat down at a table and Ann sat down next to him, leaving her cleaning rag on the table.

Ann wiped her hands on her pants, still smiling. "Yes, I think I figured out something that is just going to blow the judge away!"

"Uh oh, sounds really great. Tell me about it?" Jack looked over at Karen who was still standing at the bar. She was slouching down now, which seemed unusual for her.

"It's top secret!"

Ann's reply made Jack quickly turn his attention back to her. "Oh okay, guess I'll have to just wait until tomorrow to see what it is."

"Yup you do!" There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Ann spoke again. "Um Jack…"

"What is it Ann?" Jack looked at her curiously.

"I guess I don't want you to think I'm being nosey or anything, cause it really isn't any of my business but um…" she paused and looked around before finally blurting out, "There is a rumor going around that you are dating Popuri! Are you?" She blushed deep red, realizing she was so loud she got the attention of the few people who were in the Inn.

Jack laughed nervously. Doug and Karen were both looking at them, but when they noticed Jack looking around they turned back to what they were doing. "It's nothing really official, we've just been spending a lot of time together."

"Sorry to blurt that question out at you. It's just that… well Manna is going around saying that you two got really serious and it just seems so fast…" Ann shifted in her seat and looked away.

"Fast? I just like to spend time with her. She's a nice girl." Ann nodded in agreement and Jack chuckled. "Next time you see that Manna, you go ahead and tell her she is wrong."

Ann stood up and smiled at Jack. "I'm glad you're happy. I need to get back to work before it gets too crowded in here. Will I see you tomorrow?" Jack nodded. "Okay, see you!"

As soon as Ann walked away, Karen looked over at Jack's table and slowly approached him. "Mind if I sit down?" She looked a bit tipsy and she set her drink down on the table. She sat down and began to speak before he could even reply.

"So you're dating Popuri huh?"

Jack looked at her, almost confused. Why was everyone so interested in his love life? "Um well it's not official, but I spend a lot of time with her…"

Karen's nose twitched a bit and she put her hand through her hair. "She doesn't annoy you?" Jack shook his head. "Oh okay. She's always been a bit immature but if you like that kind of thing…"

Before she could even finish Jack interrupted her. "What Karen? I didn't exactly ask for your opinion."

She sighed, realizing that she was coming across as kind of rude. "Sorry Jack, I just wanted to warn you to be careful around her." Before Jack could say anything, Rick entered the bar and Karen got up. "See you around." She joined Rick at the counter and Jack got up to leave.

The next day, the morning of the Cooking Festival, Jack was outside early to finish up his chores before the festival was to begin. He watered his crops and took care of his horse. Inside his chicken coop his baby chick that he named Popuri was bouncing around happily. It was still too young to get eggs from.

He walked out of the chicken coop and started to walk to his house so he could get cleaned up before he went to the festival. There standing at the gate to his farm was Popuri, a smile on her face. She approached him and held out her hand. In it was an egg.

"What's this for Popuri?" Jack asked.

"Today is the cooking festival, and I know you don't have a kitchen yet. I want to give you this egg so I can show you the easiest thing to cook. Then you can enter the contest and have fun too!"

Jack smiled at Popuri's generosity. She took his hand and led him out the back way of his farm. "Where are you taking me?" he asked.

"To our place." She was blushing a little.

Next to the Goddess pond was a small hot spring that people would go into to relax. Popuri lead Jack up to it and knelt down next to it. "Here, you take the egg and you hold it in the water for a few minutes. The spring will cook the egg and make it really delicious."

"But this spring isn't hot enough to boil an egg…"

"You'll see what I mean." Popuri took Jack's hand, which held the egg, and put it into the water of the hot spring. She held it there for a few minutes, and then pulled it out. "Look Jack!"

He opened his hand, and he was holding a slightly browned egg. "It's a spa-boiled egg!" Popuri exclaimed and Jack smiled. "Come on, we don't want to be late for the cooking festival!" She took his hand again and walked quickly towards the town square.

The town square was decorated for the festival. In the middle of the square there was a long table where everyone who was entering the contest had put their dishes. With a quick glance of the table, Jack could see that people had made a variety of different things for the contest. There was a cake, a huge salad, different types of juices, something really burnt…burnt! Who entered that?

Jack and Popuri walked together to the table to set down their entry. Next to the egg was a small piece of paper and Popuri wrote Jack's name on it. "Why didn't you put your name too on there Popuri?"

She just smiled at him without answering. She turned and wandered over to where her mom and the doctor were standing. Jack took this as the perfect opportunity to find Ann and see how her dish turned out.

Ann was standing at the table fussing over what she cooked, trying to make it look perfect. "Isn't the point to make sure it tastes really delicious and not how good it looks?" Jack said as he approached her with a little smirk on his face.

Ann looked up. "Don't tease me now Jack! This is so stressful! It has to look good and taste delicious."

"Oh I'm sorry for making fun of you Ann." Jack looked down at the table to see what exactly she was fussing over. On a plate there was a blob of something yellow, it looked like it had vegetables mixed in with it. "What exactly is that?"

"What is it! What is it! Jack you need to get out more. It's an omelet! I jazzed it up a bit by adding fresh vegetables and different types of spices. I hope the judge likes it."

Jack looked around, and then scratched his head. "Umm, by they way, who is the judge?" Just as he was asking Ann, a very large man came into the square from the beach entrance. He was wearing a puple suit and a purple top hat. "Never mind, I think I figured it out on my own."

This temporarily distracted Ann from her dish and she looked up and laughed. "How did you figure it out?"

"Well he is quite…"

Before Jack could finish Ann slapped his arm. "I didn't mean for you to actually answer that. Now stop distracting me! I think Popuri is waiting for you." Ann motioned over towards where Popuri was standing by her mother.

Jack walked over to her and took her hand while smiling. She smiled back at him and looked towards her mother. "Even though she isn't feeling herself lately, she still comes out every year and competes in this festival. Doctor is so sweet too, he always comes out with mom to make sure she doesn't hurt herself." Jack waved towards them and they waved back.

The arrival of the Gourmet signaled the start of the judging part of the festival, and everyone who had made a dish was required to stand next to it while the judge tasted it. Popuri pushed Jack towards the table. He stood next to his 'dish', almost embarrassed because other than Doug he was the only man there. Anna, Manna, Lilia, Ann, Doug, and Karen had all entered a dish this year. Anna stood next to a fairly large fruit cake, Manna had made some type of vegetable juice, Lilia had cooked cookies, Ann was still fussing over her omelet, and Doug stood next to a large, very interesting looking salad. Karen stood off to the side; on her plate was a large burnt thing. It didn't even look like it was once something that was edible.

The Gourmet went down the table trying a little of each dish. Ann breathed a sigh of relief as he lit up when he tasted her omelet. The fat man continued down the line trying a small bit of everyone's dish; he seemed delighted that there was so many good things submitted this year. Then he got to Karen's burnt whatever it was. He tasted a bit of it, then his face turned bright red and he spit it back out onto the table. Karen jumped back, obviously grossed out, and everyone in the square was shocked.

"This is horrible! How could you even submit something so horrible as this! I hope I don't see you next year…" Karen looked offended and the man waddled to the next dish, which was the last, Jack's. "What is this young man? This is just a boiled egg!"

Popuri ran up to Jack's defense, shaking her fist at the man. "It's not just any hard boiled egg! You better crack that open and take a bite of it before you judge!"

The Gourmet did just as she said, and he stood for a few moments, allowing himself to fully absorb the flavor of the egg. "This is delicious. I have never had a hard-boiled egg that tasted so good. How did you do it son?"

Before Jack could say anything, Popuri spoke up. "It's a secret!"

The judge smiled and walked over to the mayor. "I have made my decision."

"Good, good!" The mayor clapped his hands together. "The Gourmet has made his decision! Everyone gather around."

Everyone at the festival gathered around the fat man in the purple suit and top hat. He laughed a bit and his big stomach jiggled when he did so. "The person who I believe cooked the best dish today was… um…" He looked around, sweating a bit. "The girl who cooked the omelet…"

"Congratulations Ann!" The mayor came over to shake her hand.

Ann looked shocked. She beat her dad! She started to jump up and down. "I finally beat you dad!"

Doug smiled at his daughter. Every year she looked more and more like her mother. "Yes you beat me fair and square."

After the end of the festival Ann invited everyone to celebrate at the inn. Popuri looked at Jack with her big eyes and it was obvious to him that she didn't want to go. This time Jack took Popuri's hand and lead her for a walk around the town.

It was a peaceful night. The sky was clear so you could see the stars, and everybody was either at home or at the Inn so it felt like they had the entire town to themselves. At the end Jack took Popuri back home. There she kissed his cheek and started to head inside. She suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Jack?"

"Yes Popuri?"

"When are you going to take me on a real date?"

The question sort of shocked him. A real date? He hadn't exactly thought about anything like that yet. "Soon."

"Okay…" She turned back around and went inside.

_What do people around here do on a "real" date?_

HHHH


	9. A Public Affair

**A/N: **The title comes from Jessica Simpson's new song called "A Public Affair". I heard it on the radio and there was something about it that gave me the idea for this chapter. Jack and Popuri's relationship kind of is a public affair, everyone in the town knows about it. As always, read and review! I appreciate all the comments made so far on the story :)

Chapter 9: A Public Affair 

The morning after the cooking festival Jack was outside doing his usual chores. Today didn't feel like a normal day though. He was on his hands and knees trying to pull up all the weeds between his plants but his mind was everywhere except on what his job was. Jack couldn't stop thinking about Popuri and what she asked him the night before. She wanted to go on a 'real' date. What exactly was a 'real' date? Did that mean they would be an official couple?

Jack wasn't sure he was ready to call him and Popuri an official couple. He felt that it was a bit too soon to settle right down with a steady girlfriend. He had only been in town for most of one season. And with people already talking about it being too fast, he wasn't sure he wanted to risk his reputation. Though he wasn't quite sure if he really cared about what the town's people thought of him.

Maybe it wasn't what the town would think of him that held him back. He still couldn't stop thinking about what Karen had said to him the other night about 'being careful' around Popuri. Popuri was so innocent, what could Karen have meant?

Karen... she was so beautiful when he first laid his eyes on her. He remembered how he did everything he could to get her attention and just failed miserably. It was stupid of him to go for a girl who was already in what seemed like a very serious relationship. How she could want to be with Rick... oh well, it was none of his business. He had Popuri now, and she was just as beautiful in her own way. Also she wasn't attached to any of the boys in town, so Jack couldn't see how it wouldn't work out for them.

Maybe he should just go and take her on a real date and make it official. It was stupid to worry about what people will think of him or what people will say about their relationship. They were happy and that was all that mattered. Jack had made up his mind; he was going to ask Popuri on a real date! Where would he take her though? That was something to figure out another day, on this day Jack was already late to see Popuri at the Goddess Pond.

A few days had passed and Jack still hadn't come up with where to take Popuri on their date. He actually never even mentioned a date to her; he didn't want to get her hopes up yet. They were still having fun together doing what they usual did, so Jack didn't feel rushed to take her out yet. Even so, he needed to figure out a plan. It was going to be their first real date. He wanted it to be perfect.

Where would be a good place to take a girl on a nice date? He wasn't quite sure. There weren't many places in town to actually go and he wasn't sure what the people around here actually did for fun, other than attend numerous festivals. Maybe Ann would know a good place to take Popuri.

It was afternoon already, but Jack knew that he could find Ann working in the upstairs of the inn. It was her favorite part of the day, she had often told him about how much she loved to clean. She wasn't exactly the dating type of girl. The whole time Jack lived in Mineral Town he had never heard Ann mention anything about dating. Even so, she had lived there her whole life and she should know what was fun to do.

Jack entered the inn, tipping his hat to Doug as he passed by and walked straight up the stairs. When he got to the top, he noticed the first room closest to the stairs had its door open. He peeked inside to see Ann dancing around with her feather duster; singing to it like it was a microphone. Her voice was awfully out of tune but the sight still made Jack laugh out loud. Hearing this, Ann stopped suddenly and hid the feather duster behind her back. She was blushing a deep red.

"Hello Jack. I didn't see you there."

"Wow Ann, were you just singing? And… dancing?"

"Um… no."

"Oh come on Ann! I saw you doing it!" Jack walked into the room and Ann sighed.

"Fine, I was. It helps the day pass by faster. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Alright fine, but it was pretty funny sight to see." Jack sat down on the bed and Ann gave him an 'I just ironed that' look. He shrugged.

"Shut up Jack! Did you come here to just make fun of me?" Ann put down the feather duster on the dresser and sat down on the bed opposite of Jack.

"Actually this time I didn't." He grinned at her. She was scowling back at him. "I need your help."

"Oh so you think you can come in here, unannounced, make fun of me, then ask for my help?"

"Of course, what else are friends for?"

"Fine, what do you need help with?"

"Well," Jack paused for a moment, "See, I want to take Popuri out on a real date, but I can't seem to figure out where to take her."

Ann looked around herself then back at Jack. "Um, here? Are you that clueless Jack?"

"Well I don't really know much about this town and it's traditions. I thought maybe you could help me out."

"Dating is normal here. The only thing that isn't like any other place is our marriage tradition, but you don't have to worry about that for a while. Maybe you should go see Mary and have her give you a book or two about our traditions and you can read up on them." At this point Ann had pulled Jack up off the bed and was pushing him towards the door. "Now I need to get back to work before the dinner crowd comes. See you!" The door shut behind him and Jack was standing in the hallway alone. At least he got one idea from Ann. Time to go to the library!

Jack approached the library not realizing what day it was. He pushed to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. He pushed it again, it still wouldn't move. This time Jack knocked on the door, figuring that Mary forgot to unlock it. Not many people came here so he could understand the mistake. After waiting a minute or two Jack looked over at the sign: CLOSED MONDAYS. He sighed.

Where would he find Mary now? Then he remembered something she said one day while he was shopping in the market; "Monday's are my day off. I help Mom with the groceries in the afternoon." Hopefully Mary was still in the market.

Jack walked down the street and casually entered the market. Mary was there with her mother, slowly browsing through all the items for sale. Mary looked up when Jack entered and smiled at him. He waved at her and walked over to where she was standing with her mother, Anna.

"Hey Mary, do you have a minute?" Jack looked past her and realized that Karen was there, in the back of the store, reorganizing the shelves.

Mary looked over at her mom; Anna nodded at her daughter and walked to another part of the store to look at something else. "Yes Jack, what do you need?"

"Ann told me that you could give me a book about this town's traditions."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was trying to figure out a place to take Popuri on a date when I realized that I still don't know that much about this town. I asked Ann about traditions and she just mumbled something about seeing you at the library. The library is closed today so…"

Mary smiled. It was very rare when somebody actually wanted to take out a book and nobody ever asked her about books on her day off. Then she frowned. "I'm very busy today. I would like to help you but you'll have to come by on a day that the library is open. I'll make sure to have a book ready for you."

"Oh okay Mary thanks for your help. I'll stop by when I get a chance."

Jack turned around to walk away and found himself face to face with Karen. He blushed a bit, obviously embarrassed about not paying enough attention to notice that Karen had moved from the back of the store to the front. "Oh hey Karen, sorry for almost running into you…"

"It's alright Jack. So… you are going to ask Popuri out on a real date?" She stepped back a bit to give him some room. Jack nodded to answer her question. "So you are going to make it official?"

"Yes."

For a second, Karen looked slightly disappointed. Then she recomposed herself. "Well if you are looking for a nice place to take her, you should go to the beach. Popuri really loves the beach…"

"Really? Thanks for the idea Karen! I've got to get going, thanks again!" Jack walked around Karen and left the market.

Anna, who had overheard everything, looked over at Karen and sighed. "Are you trying to start trouble?"

Karen wrinkled up her nose. "No." She went into the back room and shut the door behind her.

A few days after the events in the market, Jack was finally ready to ask Popuri out on a date. Earlier that morning he made sure to tell her not to eat dinner and that he would be waiting at her house at six. She squealed with excitement. They were finally going on a date!

It was 5:45 and Jack was doing the last few things around his farm before it was time to take Popuri on her date. He didn't actually own any nice clothing, so it was just his overalls and a white t-shirt again tonight. He thought about actually going without his hat on, but thought twice and decided not to.

Right at six o'clock Jack was there to pick Popuri up. The first person to open the door was no Popuri though. It was Rick, holding his hand out to shake Jack's. Jack shook it firmly even though he still despised the man. "Is Popuri ready?" Jack asked without even saying hello to Rick.

"Yes, let me go get her." He walked away, leaving the door open, and yelled up the stairs. "POPURI! JACK IS HERE FOR YOU!" Jack cringed for a moment. He didn't have to yell so loud.

A moment later Popuri came down the stairs. She was wearing her usually red and pink dress, but today there was something different about her. She had her hair all curled up, with most of it pulled back into a ponytail. Two strands were left to dangle in the front. She looked absolutely stunning and Jack couldn't help but let his jaw hang open. She grinned at him then ran towards him and hugged him. He took her hand and led her to the inn.

"Wow you are taking me to dinner!" Popuri was absolutely beaming. Nobody had ever taken her out to dinner before. Not even her brother for a special occasion like her birthday. She was almost bouncing up and down as Jack held the door open for her and she entered the inn.

Inside Ann seated them and gave them their menus. After a few minutes they each ordered something. Popuri got a salad, and Jack ordered pasta. It was too bad he couldn't have ordered one of Ann's now famous omelets. The sat idly chatting while they waited for their food.

"Jack I'm so happy!"

"I'm very glad Popuri" He smiled and took her hand.

They continued to chat all throughout dinner. To everyone else they looked like a very happy couple. Popuri talked about the weather and what it was like to work on the chicken farm, while Jack told her funny stories about his animals. He made sure to let her know more than one time that he thought she looked exceptionally beautiful that night. She couldn't stop blushing.

At one point during the dinner the conversation ended up being about the future. Popuri wondered what Jack was planning on doing after his three years were up on the farm.

"What makes you ask that Popuri?" Jack asked curiously.

"I'm just curious. Some people have plans for the future. Some don't. I don't know, it's something Carter talks a lot about at the church…" Popuri set her fork and knife down. She was just about done eating.

"I'm not all too sure yet. I just figured that if I could be successful I would continue to live here for a while."

"You aren't going to move back to the city?" Popuri frowned.

"I wasn't planning on it. I really like it here. I like the people here and I like the life I live." Jack smiled as he thought about how much he really did like this town.

"You mean you aren't ever going to go back to the city?"

"Nope, wasn't planning on it."

Popuri wrinkled up her nose to his response. Jack didn't notice though because he was too busy finishing off the rest of his pasta. He looked up and Popuri was just starring at him. "You should get dessert," Jack said to her.

"Really? Alright!"

The rest of the meal went smoothly and it looked like they were both having a good time. After Jack paid the tab he took Popuri by the hand and led her to the beach. The sun had just begun to set and Jack decided that this was a nice romantic way to end their evening.

"Where do you want to sit Popuri?" She pointed to the end of the beach that was opposite of the docks.

They sat down in the sand together. It was the end of spring and it was getting warmer outside. Even so, Popuri was cold and she huddled close to Jack as they quietly watched the sun set together. They both didn't move after the sun set and it was completely dark out. The only light they had to see was the moonlight. It was such a clear night.

Without warning, Popuri turned around and kissed Jack. The kiss lasted for several moments before she broke away. Jack continued to hold her close, in a moment that he hoped would never end.


	10. Rivalry

**A/N**: Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing my story so far. Your comments are all appreciated very much. I find it kind of funny how strongly some people feel about the couples in this game. I personally don't prefer one girl over another, and find all of them fun to write about. So please don't flame me on who I have Jack dating. I just write the story as I go along. I have an idea of where I want the story to go, but I don't really know who Jack will ultimately end up with. You'll just have to read to find out :P

Chapter 10: Rivalry

And just like that, Spring turned into Summer.

It was Summer 1st, the day of the Beach Festival. Popuri told him that it was a day to celebrate the beginning of summer. All the boys were supposed to wear their swimming trunks so that they could compete in swimming race. It was early in the morning, and Jack was done with his chores for the day. It didn't take too long, since he hadn't made it to the shop to buy summer seeds yet.

Jack walked casually to the Poultry farm. He figured he would pick up Popuri and they could go to the festival together. He walked up the door and knocked. After a few moments he knocked again, then proceeded to go inside. He figured that Popuri had probably overslept.

Inside the house it looked as if it were completely empty until Jack looked up the stairs to see Lillia slowly making her way down. He met her half way and helped her the rest of the way down.

"Hello Jack. Rick and Popuri have already left for the festival. Popuri just loves summer you know... she was up before six this morning she was so excited."

"Oh alright." Jack helped her sit down in her rocking chair. "I don't want to be late, so I'll see you later Lillia!"

Jack took off quickly towards the door and just barely heard Lillia say behind him, "Good luck in the race Jack!"

When Jack arrived at the beach the first thing he noticed was the way the beach was decorated for the festival. That must be what the mayor does in his free time, Jack thought to himself. Balloons were tied to the fence and the mayor sat at a booth over by the docks. He scanned the area and noticed that most of the village came out for this festival. All the young people of the village were there for the race, the men to do the racing and the ladies to cheer them on. Karen's dad and Harris were even there, both in their swim shorts, stretching and preparing themselves for the race.

Jack smiled to himself until he noticed where Popuri was. Off in the corner of the beach, by the bench, she was standing next to a young dark man with a purple bandana. It looked as if they were trying not to be noticed by the rest of the town. She was giggling at something he said, and gently hit his arm in response.

Jack was unsure of how exactly to react to the situation. He didn't want Popuri to think he was a jerk if he made a big scene and it turned out that they were just friends. He walked over casually and tried to appear cool, even though he was feeling very jealous inside. When she saw him coming she looked at him with wide eyes. He smiled a bit at her and said, "Hey Popuri, what's going on?"

"Hi Jack... oh Jack. This is Kai." She blushed a little.

Kai looked back and forth at the two people who were in front of him. A look of confusion crossed his face, and then he suddenly understood. "Jack huh? What's up?"

"Nice to meet you Kai, come on Popuri." Jack gently took her arm and pulled her away. He didn't notice, but she looked back at Kai and pouted.

"I'm surprised you didn't wait for me this morning," Jack commented to Popuri as they found a place to sit on the beach.

"Sorry. I was too excited about this festival to wait for you to finish your chores." She wrinkled up her nose.

"Why are you making that face?"

"It's nothing. Okay so it is. You always have to work on festival days." Popuri pouted.

"The farm doesn't run itself Popuri. The chickens need to be fed every day. You should know." He took her hand and held it in his.

"Yeah I know..."

They both suddenly got quiet and just watched everyone else enjoying themselves on the beach. The kids, Stu and May, were both building sand castles together. Karen was sitting on the dock with her feet dipping into the water. Next to her was Rick, who was looking towards them and waving furiously. Jack just nodded towards him, which made Rick stop his waving. He seemed a bit too happy.

Continuing his gaze across the beach Jack noticed Mary and Gray were sitting together. Well sort of. They were sitting near each other and every so often they would exchange a few words. Elli was sitting with the doctor, who was probably there to make sure nobody hurt themselves in the race. Off in the opposite corner of the beach Ann was sitting by herself. She looked lonely, but Jack didn't want to get up for fear that Popuri would run back over to that Kai fellow.

After some time passed, the Mayor waddled his way to the middle of the crowd to announce the beginning of the race. "Attention! Attention everyone!" People continued talking and didn't pay attention, but he continued anyways. "The swimming race is going to begin in a few minutes! If you are going to compete please come to the water here where I am. We will begin in a few minutes!"

Jack sat where he was and watched the other men walk over to the mayor. He wasn't planning on competing in the race. Jack had never been the best swimmer. Growing up in the city never gave him much opportunity to learn to become a good swimmer. He looked over at Popuri and she was pouting at him. "What?"

"Aren't you going to race Jack? I think you should race Jack. Impress me by winning." She batted her eyelashes at him.

"I was just going to stay here and spend time with you." Jack couldn't tell Popuri that he was horrible at swimming.

"Oh. You know, Kai wins every year..."

"So?"

"Beating him would really impress me." Popuri gave him this look and he just couldn't say no. Without saying anything he got up and walked over to where the other men were meeting. Even though he wasn't planning on swimming, he had worn his swimming trunks just in case.

"Alright men," the Mayor began, "in this race the first person to swim out to the rock that Rick is on will win." Jack looked out at the ocean and watched as Rick swam out to a large rock that was partly sticking out of the water.

Kai approached Jack while the Mayor waited for everyone else to get ready. "So you are Popuri's new guy?"

"Yeah, what is it to you?"

"Uh, nothing. Just wanted to wish you good luck out there. You're going to need it." He smirked, and then looked over towards Popuri. She was watching the both of them talk to each other. Kai waved towards her and then walked away from Jack to his position at the starting line.

The starting "line" was just drawn into the sand with a stick. Jack laughed to himself at the simplicity of it. Anything to try to keep his mind off the fact that he was probably going to horribly lose this race and embarrass himself in front of Popuri. The Mayor said a few more things about the race but Jack wasn't listening. Something about pacing yourself. His heart was beating fast.

Suddenly the whistle was blown and all the men went running towards the water. It startled Jack and he jumped up before he went running, so he was already behind. The water hit him with a cold spash as he attempted to dive in. It was a slow start but Jack gave it his all anyways.

He easily passed Jeff, who seemed out of breath already in the race. Next he passed Harris. Looking ahead of himself, Kai seemed so far away. How could he swim so fast? Jack continued to push himself harder and harder but no matter how much he tried it seemed like he could never catch up to Kai.

Off in the distance Jack could see Rick standing on the rock and waving both his arms up and down to the group. He was yelling something, but Jack couldn't hear him. As he swam closer and closer to the rock he could start to make out what Rick was yelling. "Come on Jack! You can do it! Beat that loser Kai!"

Kai's response felt so far away. "Give it up Rick!" Jack was too out of breath to be able to say anything. How was this guy able to swim so fast and still have enough energy to yell back at Rick's taunts?

Suddenly Jack became very exhausted. He tried to move his arms but they wouldn't paddle any more. He had pushed himself too hard too early. He kicked his feet but it wasn't enough to keep him above the water. Jack began to sink. The last thing he heard before his head was completely submerged was Popuri screeching for someone to get help.

Under the water Jack opened his eyes just in time to see the lower half of Kai's body approach the rock. He had won the race. Of course that should have been the least of Jack's worries. He struggled to try to push his body back above the water with no luck. He was completely exhausted.

Everything started to go black as he continued to sink lower and lower. Suddenly he felt a strong hand grab him and pull him up so his head was out of the water. The man who pulled him out of the water swam back to the shore pulling Jack along beside him. It was the doctor.

He pulled Jack out of the water and pushed on his chest. Jack spit up water but was breathing. He lay there feeling dizzy and only half conscious. Popuri was the first to come running over, still shrieking. "Oh my goddess! Is he going to be alright? Jack!" By then a crowd had started to form around Jack. The doctor tried to get people to back away so that Jack could get room to breathe.

"He'll be fine Popuri, please calm down. Jack? Can you hear me?" The doctor's face turned very concerned as Jack lay there and didn't say anything.

The last thing Jack saw before he passed out were the other men returning from the water. Kai was standing there looking at him with this look that just said: "I win". Then everything turned black.

Jack woke up and found himself in a bed in the town hospital. He didn't know what day it was. Elli was sitting by his bed and she smiled when he woke up. "Good. You are finally awake."

"What am I doing here?"

Elli laughed a little. "You exhausted yourself in the swimming race. The doctor has ordered that you rest in bed for a couple of days to regain your strength."

"But my farm! I can't lay in bed for days!"

"Don't worry, we sent Rick over to take care of your chickens." Elli smiled, but this news made Jack grumble.

"Elli, has Popuri come to see me?" Jack questioned, and the young nurse nodded.

"Yes, she is out in the waiting room. She's been here for a while waiting for you to wake up. Let me go get her." Elli got up and a few moments later Popuri entered the room. She was frowning.

"For being a farmer, you don't have much stamina," she said to him.

Feeling a little insulted, he decided it was finally time to tell Popuri the truth. "Popuri, there's something I gotta tell you. I'm not a good swimmer. In the city you don't get many chances to go swimming…"

Popuri pouted. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. I just feel like I'm the reason why you passed out. If I didn't push you…"

Jack cut her off before she could finish. "It's alright Popuri. I was just trying to impress you and I took it a little too far."

She blushed, and then hugged Jack. That's when Elli came back into the room to announce that visiting hours were over and that Popuri would have to leave. The girl with the pink hair pouted again and walked out, looking back at Jack with her wide eyes. Jack rolled over and tried to get back to sleep.

Some time later Karen approached the hospital doors but stopped right before opening them. It was early morning and Rick had just left from his daily visit to the market. Should she go in? It was just a visit to the hospital after all. No harm in that. She entered and peaked behind the curtains where Jack's bed was. He was lying there sound asleep. She sat down in a chair next to him.

She wanted to be the first thing he saw when he woke up.


	11. Popuri's Loss

**A/N**: I feel bad that it took me so long to update this story. I knew what I wanted to happen in the story; I just wasn't sure how to put it into words. So here it is, please read and review!

Chapter 11: Popuri's Loss

Jack carried Popuri down the street, past the poultry farm and towards Town Square.

A scene like this would be reminiscent of that fateful day Jack carried the young pink haired woman from the dark cave back to her home. Today this was not the case, as the Popuri in his arms was a fluffy white chicken, ready for the day's festivities.

The past few days since Jack was released from the hospital were hectic. His first day back the young nurse Elli had escorted him to his home to make sure he would be alright on his own. It was nice of her, but Jack wasn't used to being babied the way he was at the hospital.

Since he returned, it was nonstop work. First he spent most of a day running around town buying the summer seeds he needed and learning how to plant them, water them, and know when it was time to harvest the vegetables.

The weeds had started to overrun his field and he had spent most of another day pulling them out of the ground. Then there was the tilling and the planting and the watering. On top of all this he also had to clean out the chicken coop, take care of the chickens, the horse, and the dog.

Afraid that he was going to exhaust himself again, Elli stopped by the farm almost every day around lunchtime with sandwiches for Jack. He appreciated it but told her that she shouldn't take time out of her busy day to come all the way down to his farm. She showed up every day between the day he left the hospital to the Chicken Festival.

Jack was really looking forward to the Chicken Festival. His chicken was full grown and ready for the festival. He wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen during it though. Jack had been too busy working to ask Popuri about it. He had only made plans to just meet her at the festival after he was done working.

The first thing Jack noticed when he got to Town Square were all the people who had come to this festival. A yellow and green circular mat was laid out in the middle of the square. Rick was near the center with the mayor. Standing near him was his sister Popuri. Right next to her was Kai. Jack frowned when he saw them together, but as soon as Popuri noticed Jack was there she came right over to him.

"Hi Jack." She was smiling.

"Hello Popuri. Look who I brought!" He held out the fluffy chicken towards her and she giggled.

"It's Popuri!" She squealed a little and hugged the chicken. "She's so cute!"

"Yes she is," Jack said as he winked at Popuri. She blushed a deep red.

"So what happens during this festival?" Jack looked around at everything that was going on around him. Off in the corner there were a couple of chickens caged up. They were clucking loudly, obvious that they didn't like their current location.

"It's a competition. Two chickens fight each other and then the winner goes on to the next round. The chicken who wins three rounds in a row is the champion of the festival."

"Chicken fighting? Isn't that illegal?" Jack looked around confused.

"Very funny Jack." Popuri crinkled up her nose.

"I wasn't trying to be funny... Popuri can't fight, she's so gentle!" Jack protectively held his chicken close to his body. He didn't want her fighting!

"Rick always says that if the chicken and the owner have a good relationship then the chicken will be successful. See they start off in the middle, and you cheer your chicken on so that it scares the other chicken into going off the mat. If that happens then the chicken still in the circle wins."

"Well that doesn't sound too bad." Jack walked with Popuri over to where Rick was standing. Everyone was instructed to give their chickens to Rick so he could organize the competitors in each round. Jack handed his chicken over to Rick.

"Oh good Jack, you are competing. I'm glad. You'll be first round, so be ready in a few minutes to start." Rick set the chicken down and scribbled something on a clipboard he had.

Popuri took Jack's hand and smiled at him sweetly. "I just know you are going to win! You take really good care of Popuri, don't you?"

"I take good care of both my Popuri's." Jack smiled at Popuri and she blushed a deep red. His remark inspired her to lean over and kiss him gently on the cheek. Jack was beaming and he held her hand tight.

A few minutes later Rick signaled Jack to come over so the festival could start. He gave Popuri back to Jack and started to tell him the rules. "You can't in any way touch or push your chicken towards the competition. You must stand off the mat and cheer your chicken on from the side in order to encourage it to scare the other chicken. The winner will continue on to the next round." As Rick read off the rules everyone began to gather around. "Our first round will be Jack vs… myself."

Everyone looked shocked. Sweat dripped off Rick's forehead. "I know, I know. I said I would never participate in this festival except to run things, but this year with Jack entering we have an odd number of participants. So I evened it out by putting one of my chickens in."

Rick handed his clipboard to the mayor. Both Rick and Jack took their chickens and set them down in the middle of the mat across from each other. Then they stepped back off the mat and waited for the mayor to signal them to begin the fight.

"Good luck Jack." Rick politely nodded towards his opponent.

"If his chicken raising skills are anything like his swimming, he's going to need it!" Kai called from the side, causing Rick to frown.

"Nobody asked your opinion _Kai_. Just ignore him Jack, he's a moron."

Popuri's face grew cold at her brother's comment. "Shut up Rick! He's not a moron." She crossed her arms and pouted.

The mayor stepped towards the mat where the chickens stood. "On your mark, get set, fight!"

Before Jack knew what was going on, Rick was already cheering on his chicken. It squawked which sent Popuri running back towards Jack. The chicken continued to run right towards the feet of its owner, which happened to be off the mat.

The mayor blew his whistle and the fight was over. "The winner is… Rick!" All around Jack he could hear people cheering for Rick.

Popuri came up behind him looking angry. "You don't take care of Popuri at all do you?" She hit his arm and stormed away. Jack just stood there feeling shocked and slightly embarrassed. He picked up his young chicken and left the festival before anyone could say anything to him. He swore he could hear Kai snickering at him as he was leaving, but that might have just been his paranoia.

A few days later Jack was sitting in the Inn drinking a beer while sitting at a table by himself. He could actually afford to drink one now and then. He had spent almost every night there the past few days. Jack was trying to get over his embarrassment from the Chicken Festival. Trying to prove to the town that he was a good farmer was hard enough without them thinking that he didn't treat his animals well.

He had spent the last few days working harder than ever on the farm. He spent extra time with his chickens, making sure that they were well taken care of. On top of that he still had to water and harvest the crops every day. This left him little free time during the day and was the reason why he went to the Inn at night. His only break during the day was early in the morning when he would go to visit Popuri by the Goddess pond. She was still upset with him over what happened at the festival. That didn't bother him though; he was still upset with himself too.

He had chosen to go to the Inn at night instead of relaxing at home because of something that Karen had said to him while he was in the hospital. She told him that he could _talk to her anytime about anything_ and that it was _something that she loved to do_. He had no time during the day to try to find her and he knew she came to the bar on certain nights of the week, but he wasn't sure which ones.

This night happened to be one in which Karen went to the bar and Jack watched as she entered. Even though he was with Popuri he still found Karen to be one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. He was so glad when she offered to help him with any of his problems, this one just didn't seem like one he could talk to Ann about.

When Karen saw Jack she smiled and walked over to his table. "Hey Jack, how is it going?"

"Not bad, and yourself?"

"I'm alright…" She looked over towards the counter and grinned. "Give me a minute and I'll join you here." Karen walked over to where Doug was standing behind the counter and ordered herself a drink. She came back with a glass of wine in her hand and sat down.

"Karen, you remember how you said I could talk to you about anything?

"Yeah?"

"Well I need your help with something." He looked around nervously to make sure nobody was listening in on their conversation. Ann was standing near the bar having a conversation with her father. Nobody else was there yet. "I'm having problems with Popuri. What can you tell me about that Kai guy?"

"Kai huh?" She set her drink down on the table, put her hands in her lap and sat up straight. "You want to know the truth?" Jack nodded. "Kai and Popuri dated off and on for the last couple of years. He only visits in the summer so that's when they date."

"That's it?"

"You didn't let me finish." Karen sighed. "A few summers ago Kai told Popuri that he was going to take her with him when he left for the summer. I guess he travels around all over the place working various odd jobs and she wanted to go with him. He left early the summer before last so that she couldn't go with him. She confronted him about it last summer but he still wouldn't take her with him. A lot of the people in the village, especially Rick, believe that he was just using Popuri for some summer fun and would never settle down with her."

"Sounds to me like that's what he was doing," Jack commented.

"I don't really think so. I mean Kai is a good guy so," Karen paused when she saw the look that Jack was giving her. "I'm sorry. He never did anything to make me think that he was using her. Anyways, shouldn't this have been something you asked Popuri yourself?"

Jack sighed and looked at his glass. It was almost empty now. "Yeah I guess so, but she has been mad at me lately and you know how she is."

"Why is she mad at you?"

"I lost the Chicken Festival in the first round and now she thinks that I don't take care of my chickens. I didn't know what was going on and when the fight began Rick's chicken scared mine and it ran towards me, going off the mat. So we lost."

Karen laughed a bit. "It got scared and ran towards you huh? Sounds like you take good care of it to me."

"I guess so, but Popuri didn't take it that way. She's been cold to me ever since. I want to do something nice for her so she'll forgive me, but I don't know what to do."

"Hmm…" Karen thought for a moment. "Oh I know! Have you asked Saibara what type of things he makes?" 

"Tools?"

"No not tools! He also can craft jewelry if you find him the right type of ore. It's some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. You should go ask him about it and buy a necklace for Popuri. She loves that expensive stuff."

"Don't all girls?"

This comment made Karen smile. "Yeah I guess. Well, except for Ann over there." They both looked over towards the tomboy and she bobbed around the inn taking orders from the people who had just recently arrived.

Jack laughed. "Thanks a lot for your help Karen. I don't know why you care, but it's nice to have someone to talk to."

"Everyone needs someone they can trust when it comes to things like this." Karen smiled. Just then Rick came into the Inn and took his usual seat at the bar. "Well looks like I have to go. See you around Jack." She got up and joined Rick.

Jack had such a good time with Karen that night that he didn't notice that Kai didn't come back from work at the same time that he normally did…


	12. Splat

**A/N:** Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! I really appreciate all the comments and they make me want to update this as soon as I possibly can. I was kind of shocked to find out this story is on a C2 community cause I didn't put it there. Then I saw who was running the C2: GeneralDragon :) Thank you so much for putting my story there. The more places where people can find it and read it the better. I wouldn't exactly call it a Karen and Jack fic, but it has some of that in here too. As always, read and review! Sorry if this update was a little slow to get up, I've been busy.

Chapter 12: Splat

"Can you tell me why I'm doing this again?"

The gruff voice echoed throughout the cave. Gray set his lantern down and wiped the sweat off his forehead. The cave was dark even though Gray had brought a lantern. Even so, Jack could still see the frown on Gray's face.

"Well your grandfather said that you could help me find some Orichalc." Jack leaned on his hammer. After digging for what felt like hours they were finally far enough down in the mine to get the ore he needed.

"What the hell do you need that type of ore for? We only use it to make jewelry around here." Gray groaned and started to hammer at the rocks again.

"Yeah, I wanted to buy a necklace for Popuri. I didn't realize that I would need to dig deep into the mine to get the ore for it."

"Any girl who expects you to buy expensive things for her isn't worth it," Gray huffed.

"Well in her defense, she doesn't expect me to buy it for her. It's just something I want to do." Jack began to hammer away at the rocks again.

"You must have done something to tick her off then. No sane man wastes that much money on jewelry 'just because'."

"Could we not talk about this anymore?" Jack sighed. All they had dug up so far was junk ore. He was starting to feel like they would never find any of the ore he wanted.

Gray stopped digging and moved up close to one of the rocks. "Come over here." Jack set his hammer to the side and walked over to where the young man was crouched down. "Sometimes you can tell where the good ore is buy looking at the way the rock was formed around it. See this here? It probably has some of that Orichalc you want."

With one swift strike of his hammer, the rock broke open to reveal shiny silver colored ore. "It looks like silver."

"To the untrained eye," Gray quickly replied. "It's much more dense." He broke off a piece with his hands. "It's heavier." He handed it over to Jack.

"Oh wow, this is nothing like silver."

"I believe my job here is done." Gray picked up his lantern and tools and started to head towards the ladder.

"Wait up!" Jack hammered off another piece of the ore and quickly gathered his things and followed Gray up.

"Young man, do you realize what you are asking of me?"

Saibara eyed Jack and tried to figure out his true intentions.

"I just want it to be perfect! It has to be perfect. That's why I'm asking for a custom made necklace. It has to have her name on it. She loves her name..."

The old man sighed. "I see now. You are in love."

Jack looked nervously around but didn't reply.

"Alright I'll do what you ask. You do understand that it's going to cost you more and take me longer to make?"

Jack nodded and put the gold on the counter. Saibara counted it quickly. "That'll do. Now get out of my shop! I need to concentrate!"

Jack hurried out the door and jumped as it slammed behind him. It was time to get back to work and wait patiently for the right moment to give Popuri her perfect gift.

A few days had passed since Jack and Gray dug deep into the mine to find the Orichalc. Jack couldn't wait patiently though, and could be seen peaking into the window of the blacksmiths' shop almost every day. And everyday he could be seen being chased away from the shop by the old blacksmith himself.

He had finally caught up all his work on the farm and had more free time. He was still busy most of the day, but now he could walk Popuri back to her house after their visit by the Goddess pond, instead of going straight back to the farm like he had been doing. He continued to go to the Inn most nights for a drink. He never got to have a drink with Karen though, which he thought was unfortunate. He guessed this was because Rick was showing up earlier and making sure she only sat with him. Jack thought he was a bit over protective.

On this day Jack had made sure that he finished his work early. It was the Tomato Festival and he wasn't going to miss it for anything. Any festival that celebrated what he was good at, growing crops, was something that he made sure not to miss.

The first thing that Jack noticed when he arrived at the Town Square was not his girlfriend off in the corner giggling with Kai, but the barrels and barrels full of tomatoes. He never bothered to ask anyone what happened at this festival and was confused by the tomatoes in the barrels. What were they going to do with those?

More barrels were set up in the middle of the square. It looked like three barrels on one side and another three on the other side. Behind them people were moving the barrels full of tomatoes.

Once Popuri noticed Jack had arrived she excused herself from Kai's side and went to greet him. She was smiling.

"Hey Popuri, what's up?"

"It's the tomato festival. It's a lot of fun!"

"Oh is it?" Jack looked around. People were forming into groups of three. "I don't quite get what is going on."

"The tomato festival is actually a competition. Everyone in the village who wants to participate will get two of their friends or relatives to join them. Once the teams are all formed then two at a time go throwing tomatoes at each other. I guess it would be like dodge ball. If you get hit you are out. The team who gets all three people out first wins. The winning team goes on to the next round and whoever is left standing at the very end is the winning team." Popuri explained in detail.

"What a waste of tomatoes," Jack mumbled to himself.

"What was that Jack?"

"Whose team are you on?" Jack looked around and noticed that Karen wasn't there. Rick was standing alone.

"Um Jack," Popuri looked down, "I already have a team set up. We are always on the same team every year so I don't want to break it up! It wouldn't be fair to kick someone off the team."

"Alright, that's fine." Jack then realized who was going to be on her team and he frowned. "You are on Kai's team aren't you?"

"Actually, it's team Chicken Lil's, and yeah... Kai is always on our team every year! I don't want to leave him out this year." She was pouting again.

Mary and Gray were standing close to where Jack was talking to Popuri. Mary overheard what was going on and gently tapped Jack on the shoulder. He turned around quickly, looking angry, but smiled when he noticed it was Mary trying to get his attention. "Jack, you can join our team. We only have two people."

"That sounds great Mary. I'd love to be on y our team." Jack turned back to Popuri, the anger returning to his face. "You better get with your team."

Popuri pouted. "Oh Jack you are so mean!" She ran over to where her brother was standing. Jack sighed and Gray raised his eyebrows. Jack looked back at the red haired man and Gray kept his mouth closed.

They stood around waiting for all the teams to get together. This year must have been a bit unbalanced since Jack had joined the festival. Elli was on a team with May and Stu. Ann was there with her father. Duke and Manna seemed to be trying to start a team unsuccessfully. Off in the corner was a young man with shaggy brunette hair. While everyone was waiting for the game to begin, Ann walked over to Jack and whispered something to him.

"Yeah I see that guy over there," he replied to her.

"Shhh! I don't want him to hear."

"Why not?"

Ann looked around nervously and pulled Jack away from his teammates. "He has been staying at the inn for about a season now and well..."

"Just spit it out Ann."

"I think he's cute!" She was blushing bright red and Jack let out a laugh.

"Ann the tomboy, who _never_ wants to get married is interested in a boy!" Jack tapped her with his elbow teasingly.

"I'm just too nervous to ask him to join my team."

"Just do it. If he says no then it is no big deal. It's just a tomato throwing contest."

This remark made Ann laugh a little. "Yeah, I guess you are right. I'm going to go ask him now."

Jack watched as Ann walked off and talked to the young man. He only nodded his head in response and followed her over to where her father was standing.

The mayor stepped into the middle of the square and blew his whistle. Everyone quieted down quickly this time. "Now that we have all of our teams set we will begin the festival! First two teams to compete, Team Chicken Lil's and Team Mutant Ninja Turtle!"

"Oh yeah!" Stu yelled and ran to the center of the square.

Elli whipped her hands on her apron to get ready. "This is so embarrassing…" she mumbled to herself but Jack could just barely make out what she said. He laughed to himself.

Both teams got ready, each person hiding behind a barrel to try to not get hit. For Stu and May it wasn't hard to hide behind the barrel, they were shorter than it. In order for them to throw they were going to have to throw from the side.

Elli took the middle with Stu and May on either side of her. On Team Chicken Lil's, Rick took the center with Popuri and Kai on either side of him. Jack was surprised that he let Kai on his team. Jack frowned to himself; it should have been him up there instead of that Kai.

When both teams were set the mayor blew his whistle and the tomato throwing began. Stu and May were both out quickly; Kai had aimed for them first. Last was Elli, who took a shot at Popuri and hit her square in the face.

"Ow! That hurt!" Popuri began to cry and instinctively Jack started to run towards her, but was stopped by the mayor.

"Nobody who isn't competing can go near the barrels," he said sternly. Jack sighed.

After another minute or two of no action, Rick took aim and hit Elli on her dress. She laughed. "I guess you win."

The whistle blew again and the match was over. "And the winner is, Team Chicken Lil's!" Almost everyone in the square clapped for them. Stu started to cry so hard that Elli had to take him home.

"Next match will be Team Chicken Lil's vs… Team Mary!" The mayor blew his whistle again.

"That thing is starting to get annoying." Gray mumbled.

"Team Mary!" Jack looked over at the young woman and she adjusted her glasses.

"You weren't on the team when we told the mayor our name."

They moved to the center of the square and each took their place behind a barrel. Gray took the middle while Mary took the side that Popuri was on. That left Jack only one place, right across from Kai.

"Well if it isn't Jack." Kai said to Jack as he fixed his bandana. He had missed getting hit by all the tomatoes from the last round.

"That should be my spot," Jack grumbled to himself but Kai heard him anyways.

"What was that farmer boy? You think you should be here with your 'girlfriend'? Here's a hint for you: she picked me over you. She knows who the real winner is."

Rick groaned. "Shut the hell up Kai before I bean you with one of these tomatoes."

The mayor blew his whistle and the game began. Everyone in the fight quickly ducked behind their barrels and grabbed tomatoes. Jack looked over at Mary; she nodded at him and Gray. At the same time they all jumped up and threw their tomatoes. Jack's just barely missed the top of Kai's head. Mary's tomato must have hit Popuri square in the face because she cried out in shock and started to cry again.

Hearing this made Jack jump up. "Popuri! Are you okay?"

Kai took this moment to his advantage and quickly grabbed a tomato from the barrel and threw it. As if everything was happening in slow motion, Jack turned towards Kai and saw the tomato just as it smacked him in his face. He let out a cry of defeat.

The tomato guts dripped down the side of his face and onto his overalls. _Why was he suddenly thinking of Karen?_


	13. Happy Birthday!

**A/N**: This chapter may seem a bit slow or uneventful. It's one of those "between the action" chapters. I believe the action of the story will really pick up after this chapter, so as always read and review!

Chapter 13: Happy Birthday!

"You never do anything with me anymore."

The young pink haired woman who sat next to Jack at the Goddess pond began to pout. A few days had passed since the Tomato Festival and the couple was over what had happened then. Jack had forgiven Popuri for choosing Kai over himself, and Popuri forgave Jack for being mean about it.

It would seem as though things were back to normal with them. Jack had continued working hard on the farm; he was saving up for an extension to his chicken coop. Popuri continued to meet him by the Goddess pond every day. Something was different though. Jack couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Summer is busy, you know that Po. I'll have more free time in the fall for us to do things together."

"But fall is boring!" She protested and crossed her arms. "I like summer. I like playing on the beach."

Jack sighed. He knew she was unhappy with their current situation but there wasn't much he could do at the moment. "Listen Po, I almost have enough money saved up to buy that chicken coop extension. Once I buy it I'll take you on at least one date before the end of the summer. We'll go to the beach and have a lot of fun. I promise."

"You better keep your promise." Popuri stood up. "I should get back home, Rick needs my help today."

"Can I walk you home?"

"Alright." She smiled a little and Jack took her hand. They walked to the Poultry farm in silence.

_You are invited to a birthday celebration!_

_When: Summer 17th_

_Time: 10 a.m.- 6p.m._

_Location: Inn_

Jack placed the invitation in his rucksack. Ann had personally given it to him herself when he was at the inn a few days ago. It happened to be the morning of Summer 17th and Jack had just finished running around like a crazy person trying to finish up all his chores. He didn't want to be late.

He wasn't sure what type of present to get Ann. She wasn't too into jewelry or alcohol and he couldn't exactly buy her an animal. That left him with the market, which sold seeds, stuff to bake with, rucksacks, and baskets. All things he was pretty sure she didn't want to receive on her birthday.

That left him with only one option left, stuff from his farm. Ann loved to cook, so hopefully she'll like fresh vegetables and eggs. He had crated up all the eggs he got over a couple of days and saved some of the corn and onions. Now all he had to do was figure out a creative way of wrapping all this stuff.

So Jack found himself carefully walking his way over to the market, hands full of vegetables and the carton of eggs. As he got closer he noticed Karen was sitting outside on the bench with Rick. She jumped up once she saw Jack and quickly walked over to him.

"Here, let me help you with that Jack before you drop it all over the place. She took the egg carton out of his hands.

"Thanks Karen."

"Where are you going with all this stuff?"

"Your shop. I need to wrap this stuff up."

Karen laughed. "You are kidding right? You do realize you are holding vegetables. Oh and eggs."

"It's Ann's birthday."

"So you got her a bunch of vegetables?" Karen looked at Jack curiously. By this time Rick had gotten up to see what all the commotion was about.

"You have a better idea?" Karen shook her head. "Then don't make fun."

"I didn't even realize it was Ann's birthday already. I guess I lose track of the days in summer."

They headed towards the front doors of the market. _If Karen doesn't know it's Ann's birthday, then who the heck did she invite to her party?_ Jack frowned to himself. He thought Ann and Karen were good friends.

Inside the market Karen set the egg carton on the table where the seeds were and picked up a basket from on of the side tables. "This may be kind of lame, but it's a lot better than wrapping up vegetables."

"What?"

"It's a vegetable basket." Karen took each vegetable out of Jack's arms one by one and set them into the basket in a decorated order. He carefully watched her in awe.

"That's really neat. Oh! How much do I owe you for the basket?"

"Just let Ann know it's from the market."

Rick, tired of being ignored, steps forward. "Karen, it's getting late. I really need to get back to work."

"Okay, Rick." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

_Why do I feel so jealous?_

"Jack you made it!"

Ann was dressed in her usual overalls and yellow shirt. She didn't get dressed up for her birthday at all, which was good because Jack didn't have anything to get dressed up in himself.

"Happy birthday Ann!" Jack handed her the veggie basket and the eggs, which he had wrapped up.

"Thank you so much! I'll just set there here on the table. Go ahead and sit down."

Jack looked around the Inn. It wasn't very decorated, there were a few balloons here and there scattered around. Some of them even said "Happy Birthday" on them. That's when Jack realized that there were very few people there. There was Ann, of course, and her dad, and that mysterious fellow who Ann thought was cute.

"Who else is coming?" Jack asked as Ann came to sit down with them.

She paused for a moment. "Well… this is it. I just wanted a party with my closest friends, and my dad of course!"

_Always so cheery_, Jack thought to himself. He looked over at the other young man Ann had called her closest friend. He was about the same age as Jack, maybe a bit younger. His brown hair fell into his face and even though it was a joyous occasion, he looked very depressed.

Jack extended his hand to the young man. "My name is Jack."

"Cliff." He didn't return the gesture.

Jack quickly took his hand back, feeling a bit dejected. Ann looked back and forth at both the men and her eyes widened a bit. "Oh no! I didn't realize you guys didn't know each other. I'm a terrible hostess!"

"Ann, it's your party. You should sit down and relax." Jack pointed to one of the chairs in between the two men. She laughed a bit and sat down.

The entire afternoon was full of food and fun. Ann's dad told cute stories about various birthday parties Ann had as she grew up. He told tales of her burning her lip on the candles when she was three and crying through most of her party. Ann, completely embarrassed by her father, quickly opened her presents to get him to stop talking. She loved the present from Jack; she thought it was very thoughtful.

He didn't forget to tell her the basket was from the market.

At the end of the day Jack got up from the table to leave, completely stuffed from all the food that Doug had cooked. Ann stopped him before he could go and gave him a quick hug.

"Thanks for coming to my birthday party. That present was just amazing! I can't wait to cook with those veggies." She was grinning.

"I'm glad you liked it. I'll see you around Ann."

"Tell me again why you dragged me here?"

"Po, it's right next door to your house."

Jack and Popuri were standing outside Barley's ranch. Jack was there with the intension of buying a cow. He had hoped that Popuri would be excited to see him expand his farming family, but she didn't show the excitement that he had hoped for.

"Why do you want a cow? I thought you were going to expand your chicken coop."

"The cow festival yesterday inspired me. I never realized that cows were such beautiful creatures. The festival made me realize that my farm is not complete without one." Even if she wasn't, Jack was excited about the idea of getting a cow for his farm. It would finally feel like a real farm now.

"This is a big thing for me Po, I just wanted you to be here."

He took her hand and led her inside Barley's house. It was where he did all his business.

"What can I do for you Jack?" the old man asked him with a smile. May was off in the corner of the main room playing with Hanna, her dog.

"I think I'm going to buy a cow. I want to see them first so I can pick one out."

"Come right this way." Barley led the couple to the outside pasture.

Jack let go of Popuri's hand and looked around. One of the cows in particular caught his eye and he moved towards her. She just looked absolutely perfect for his farm. Moving closer to the cow, she looked at Jack as if to say 'please give me a home'. He knew she was the one for him.

"Bessy."

Even though Barley was a bit hard of hearing, he still heard Jack name the cow. "I see you like that one. She'll all yours if you've got the gold for her."

Popuri huffed loudly and crossed her arms. Jack was too busy petting his new cow to take notice. "Po you should come over and pet her, she's real gentle."

"I don't want to."

Jack looked back at Popuri and Barley who were behind him. "Oh alright. I'll take her Barley."

"But Jack! She's going to be so much more work for you on the farm. You're already busy enough as it is," Popuri protested.

"Yeah but she'll be worth it. I'll have fresh milk every day. How would you like to have milk every day?"

"It would be nice."

"Good." Jack walked over and handed Barley the gold for the cow.

Jack was too busy to notice that Popuri was frowning and looking very impatient. He went back over to pet his new cow. Popuri turned around, and without saying anything left.

It would be the last time Jack saw her before that fateful day…


	14. Just a Farmer

**A/N:** I don't know if anyone has noticed, but my section breaks aren't being shown on this site and it's driving me nuts. Makes the story look cluttered. I'm going to try different ones to see if any of them actually show up. If they are distracting let me know. As always, read and review!

Chapter 14: Just a Farmer

One event that happened before 'that fateful day' stuck out in Jack's mind. He was up by the Goddess Pond having a nice early morning chat with Ann. He was really there to see Popuri but she must have been late that morning.

"The fireworks festival is coming up," Ann commented. "I guess you are going to go with Popuri?"

"Yeah that was the plan."

"Sounds like fun. I really want to ask Cliff but I feel awkward. Popuri is always telling me that the guy has to ask the girl out." Ann sighed.

"Why not ask him? Worst that can happen is he'll say no."

"That's what I am afraid of." Ann looked up towards the sky. "I always go to the fireworks alone. It didn't used to bother me, but for some reason it does this year."

Jack nodded. "I wouldn't worry about it Ann. If he is a real friend he wouldn't hesitate to go with you."

Ann turned her head to look at Jack. She was smiling a bit. "You are always so encouraging Jack. You are a really great friend, you know that?"

"You tell me every chance you get."

Ann gently punched his arm teasingly. "Stop it, you are making me sound sappy."

"Well…"

Ann quickly jumped up. "Well I'm **not** is right! I should get going."

Jack looked down at his watch. It was already 10 a.m. "I wonder where Popuri is today?"

Ann looked around then back at Jack. "It's Sunday! Popuri is probably down by the church.

_Sunday, already? _"Oh okay Ann. I'll see you around."

Ann left to go back to the Inn. A few moments later Jack collected his rucksack and quickly put a few of the summer grasses in it. They were worth something from the shipper and he had to start saving up for his chicken coop again. He stopped by his farm to drop the grasses into his shipping bin then he was on his way to the church.

It was a quiet summer morning. Jack went the long path that morning; it took him right past the market. He expected to see Karen and Rick sitting outside but today they weren't. Jack approached the church and pushed open the large wooden doors.

Inside everything was light up by the sunshine the came in through the windows. In the front of the church the Priest stood at the podium. He was rehearsing one of his sermons to an empty church.

"And that my children is why you can never commit adultery! You must always be loyal to your spouse. The Harvest Goddess will grant you a good life if you are loyal to her and your family." It must have been the end of his story.

Taking a quick look around the church Jack noticed the pink haired woman was nowhere to be found. Carter looked up and smiled when he saw Jack. "Would you like to hear a story?"

"I was actually here looking for Popuri…"

"It's about a woman who is unfaithful to her husband and how the Harvest Goddess makes her pay for her sin."

Jack frowned. "It sounds very interesting, but I have a lot of work to do today so I was wondering if you could tell me if you saw Popuri here this morning?"

Carter sighed. No one ever wanted to hear his stories. It was the reason why he preached to an empty church every Sunday. "No Popuri was not here this morning," Carter explained.

"Okay, thanks Carter. I'll see you later!" Jack quickly left before the man could tell him anymore of his story.

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That day, it happened to be the day of the Fireworks Festival. Everyone in the town went to different places to watch the fireworks. In general all the younger people went to the beach to watch it with their date or alone. Jack was told that most people brought dates. He hadn't talked to Popuri in a few days, but he knew he would meet her there and they would have a really good time together.

He was daydreaming about her as he did his farm work. The last time they were at the beach together they shared their first kiss. He didn't enjoy being around any of the other girls in town the way he loved to be around Popuri. It was Saibara who said it first, but Jack was in love with this girl.

He thought of what Saibara had said to him because the necklace he ordered was finally done and in his possession. It was just perfect. Made out of the beautiful metal orichalc, it was perfectly engraved with her name and just the right amount of shine. He was planning on giving it to her at the fireworks. It was going to be the most perfect night.

Jack had planned to arrive early and set up a nice place for them to be somewhat alone on the beach. In order to do this he had to make sure he had all his chores on the farm done in time to eat an early dinner and head to the beach before anyone else could get there.

He quickly rushed around the farm, making sure all his animals were taken care of and his crops were all watered. After a quick dinner Jack was on his way out the door and into town. It was quiet, but this was usually the case on festival days. Everyone else except maybe Gotz took the day off. On this particular festival day it felt eerily quiet. Jack shrugged off the unsteady feeling he got and continued in the direction of the beach.

Jack walked onto the beach and breathed in the fresh air. It felt so good to be there. The beach only held happy memories for him, and he smiled to himself. The sun was starting to set now, but it wasn't quite late enough for any of the other villagers to be there.

"Mmmm…"

A noise suddenly made Jack jump. He thought he was the only one there. Just as he was about to look around to see what the noise was he heard a familiar giggle. Then he heard it. It was her voice.

"Mmm Kai! Stop it! Get off me! People are going to start showing up soon and then we'll be in real trouble."

"Who cares?"

Jack looked to see what was going on only to see Kai wrap his arms around Popuri. They were lying on the beach together; in the same exact spot Jack shared his first kiss with her!

His jaw dropped. He didn't even know how to react. He was motionless for a moment, until he saw Kai start to kiss his girlfriend. No, he wasn't just kissing her. He was all over her.

"Get off my girlfriend you scumbag!" Jack finally was able to move and he was fuming. He stormed over to the couple and Kai quickly moved away from Popuri."

"Jack!" She cried out and looked away.

Kai hastily got up and moved even further away from Popuri. "Hey I thought you told him!" He seemed angry but his face turned scared when he saw the way Jack was looking at him. "I guess I'll leave you two alone." He ran off towards his snack shack to avoid conflict.

"Popuri how could you do this to me?" She looked away but didn't say anything. "Look at me! How could you!"

"I was going to break up with you but I never got the chance."

"What? Why? I thought we had a good relationship. I didn't even know there was something wrong. Why didn't you give us a chance Popuri?" Jack couldn't control his feelings anymore. All sorts of emotions were stirring inside of him, so much that he started to shake a bit.

"Because Jack… you're… just a farmer!" She stood up so she could look at him eye to eye. "I want to travel the world and see things! I'm sick of living in this uneventful. I want to do new things. I don't want to be farmers wife!"

"Wife? It was a new relationship… I just wanted you to give me a chance…"

"I'm sorry Jack. I should have told you sooner. I'm leaving with Kai in a few days. And there is nothing anybody can do to stop me. Not you, not Rick, no one! I want to be free!"

This news shocked Jack so much that he was speechless. He knew that Popuri was unhappy about him being so busy, but he had no idea it was this deep. Leaving the village… how could she? He turned and walked towards the water without saying anything to her.

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace. This was going to be his perfect gift to give to his perfect girlfriend on their perfect night. Now it was all ruined. She was no longer part of his life. He took the necklace and threw it as far as he could towards the ocean. Jack turned away before he saw it land and left the beach.

"I'm so sorry Jack…" It was the last thing he heard her say to him.

There would be no fireworks for Jack that year.

A few days later Popuri had snuck out early in the morning with all her bags. She didn't want Rick to know that she was leaving for good. She dragged them onto the docks where Kai was waiting for her. He took the bags from her and loaded them onto the ferry. Something in the water though caught her eye and she stopped for a moment before getting on the ferry.

"Come on Popuri, we're leaving soon."

Squatting down on the docks to get a closer look at what was floating in the water, she saw a beautiful necklace. It was floating and hitting up against the legs of the dock each time the tide came in. It was engraved with her name.

Popuri stood up. She did so while wondering if it was a mistake to leave…


	15. Red is Blue

**A/N:** I finally found section dividers that actually work when I upload them to this site. Thank you all for your reviews:) Does anyone know where the title came from:P

DoubleKK: Is that a threat:\

Chapter 15: Red is Blue

And just like that, Summer turned into Fall.

The last few days of Summer were the most emotionally painful days Jack had ever experienced in his life thus far. While he had been busy for most of the summer and had not spent much time with Popuri, there was still a huge void in his heart that she used to fill. He instinctively would continue to go up to the Goddess Pond to see her, but she was never there. She would never be there again.

Only one event that happened between Popuri's departure and the beginning of Fall worth remembering to Jack was one day when he went to go to the Goddess Pond. Ann was there; she turned and smiled at him as he approached. Instead of stopping to talk, just being at that place would hurt too much, he smiled back and continued on his way up Mother's Hill.

It must have been a Monday because the first thing he noticed as he continued his walk up the hill was that Mary was there with her family. His usually depressed mood was lifted when he noticed how happy the family seemed together. Mary was laying in the grass either reading a book or writing, he couldn't tell from where he was. Basil, her father, was out there with his magnifying glass examining all of the various plants that grew up there. Anna, Mary's mother, was setting up a blanket. The sight of the happy family made him smile, but he wasn't sure he wanted to talk any of them. He continued on his way past them and towards the top of the hill.

"Hey Jack!"

He was noticed. He stopped to see who was talking to him. Mary had stood up and walked over towards him, a slight smile on her otherwise emotionless face. "It's good to see you Jack, how are you doing?"

"I could be better," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry to hear. I don't mean to bother you, but you know, if you need a quiet place to relax and be alone… the library will welcome you."

"That's nice of you Mary. I'll remember that in the future."

And he did. Every day afterwards Jack would spend the morning doing all his chores and preparing for the fall. Then he would spend the afternoon at the library. Mary always welcomed him with a warm smile and a new book for him to read. It felt good to get his mind off of things and just learn something new. Most of the books Mary had for him were about different plants or farming techniques. He hoped to try out some of those when the fall came.

Now it was Fall and Jack was ready to start a new season. Emotionally, he wasn't ready to venture out into town and be social again. He was ready though to take the next step on his farm. He was finally almost ready to expand his chicken coop. Summer had been very profitable for Jack. That was the only good thing that happened all month.

Jack stood outside his chicken farm and sighed. Since Popuri had broken it off with him, he found it difficult to spend any significant time in the place. Chickens reminded him of Popuri. Popuri, the chicken, reminded him of Popuri. Actually, most things reminded him of Popuri.

It was time for Jack to take control of the situation. After he was done with all his chores on that particularly cool fall day, he picked up Popuri the chicken and took her to Chicken Lil's. He hated to do it, but it was the only way to alleviate the pain.

It was early still, but not too early for Rick to be there. He was outside, bundled in a light jacket and feeding the chickens. He noticed Jack standing there at the gate to the farm and he put down the bag of seed. He hadn't seen Jack since before Popuri left him.

"Hey Jack, what can I do for you."

"Take this."

"What? You want me to buy this chicken off of you?"

Jack sighed, still holding the fluffy white bird. "No, I don't want any of your pity money. I just want you to take her and give her a good home. I can't take care of her anymore."

"Alright Jack, I can do that." Jack handed the chicken over to Rick. He turned around to leave. "Oh Jack! Before you go… what is her name?"

"Popuri."

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The next day was the second day off Fall. Jack had most of what he wanted to get planted done. Fall would be an easier planting season for him. Onions and peppers and maybe a few other vegetables were all he was going to plant this season. There was no use in stressing himself out. He was planning on spending more time concentrating on expanding his animal barns.

Jack was outside watering the last of his seeds when he noticed something coming towards his farm. As it got closer he realized it was a person, it was Karen. He had not seen her in several days, and the sight of her made him smile.

She waved at him from the gates to his farm, and he signaled for her to join him on the field. She was carrying a small bag in her hand. "Hello Jack, how are you doing?"

"Alright I guess, how have you been Karen?"

"I'm fine. I haven't seen you around the bar lately, so I figured I would come stop by and make sure you are doing okay."

"I'm doing alright considering…" he didn't finish what he was going to say and stopped his work to wipe the sweat off his brow. Even though it was cooler outside, the hard work still made him sweat a lot.

"Right… oh! I stopped by also to give you this." She handed him the small bag.

"A bag?"

"They are seeds silly! They are Magic flowers."

Jack looked at the bag, then back at Karen. "What's so magical about them?"

She laughed. "That's their name. Rumor has it that they are blue flowers when you plant them, but some of the seeds are different, and some of the plants will have red flowers. It's fun! You should plant them and see what color flowers you get."

Jack smiled a little. It was hard to be sad around Karen. "Alright Karen, I'll plant them when I get done here."

"Well I was hoping I could help you plant them. It seemed like something fun to do."

"Okay." Jack quickly finished watering the rest of his seeds and took Karen over to fill up the watering can in his small pond. "I'm not sure where to plant them."

"Hmm…" Karen looked around, "how about down at the other end?" Karen pointed towards the end of his field, the side closest to Mother's hill. It had been cleared but Jack had neglected to plant anything there because it was so far away from the shipping bin.

"That's perfect," Jack commented and they walked over towards the spot.

Jacked took his hoe out of his rucksack and began to till the land. Karen watched in admiration of his strength. When he was finished she laid down the seeds and he watered them. They did this whole process in silence.

When they were all done they both stared at the plot of land for a moment before anything was said. "How many days does it take for these to grow?" Jack asked curiously.

"I believe it's a week. It'll take a few days after that for the flowers to bloom though."

"Oh."

"Impatient?" she asked and laughed a bit, looking at the man as he continued to stare at the land.

"I just want to know what color the seeds are already." He smiled at Karen. "Thanks Karen, this really cheered me up."

"I knew it would." She winked at him and Jack swore he could feel his face go flush.

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The third day of fall was the day of the Music Festival. The mayor had come by to ask him if he was planning on playing an instrument. Jack refused, though agreed to attend the festival, but only because he had promised Karen that he would the day before.

The festival didn't begin until after dinner, so Jack took his time getting his chores done. It was a festival day, meaning that everything in town would be closed, including the library. This was a bit of a let down for Jack, as now he had nothing to do in his free time but sit around and think about things.

Finally it was time to go to the church, Jack had left early on purpose just to get out of his house. He took a relaxing stroll through town. It was quiet, just as it was on every other festival day. This time it was a bit different though, the days were starting to get shorter and it was almost dark. He wondered to himself what winter was like in Mineral Town.

He arrived at the church before most of the people, and took a seat in the back pew. He didn't really want anyone talking to him or feeling pity for him for what had happened. He just wanted to enjoy the festival then go home.

Ann snuck into the seat next to Jack before he noticed and whispered to him, "Jack, I'm nervous."

Jack turned and looked at her. "About what?"

"I haven't played the flute since last year's music festival. I'm afraid I'll mess up."

"I'm sure nobody will notice." Jack turned back to face the front of the church. Even though Ann was his closest friend in town, he had even been avoiding her since everything had happened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you Jack." He nodded. "I just miss seeing you around town. I hope you feel better soon." She got up quickly before he could say anything and went to the front of the church where all the other girls were waiting now.

Karen saw Jack sitting way in the back and she waved to him. He nodded his head but didn't return the wave. A few moments later the rest of the residents who were coming arrived and had found their seats. Carter signaled for the music to being and the murmur of voices quickly settled down.

The music was so beautiful. Jack couldn't even find the words to describe it. It was so soothing. Ann and Elli were both playing the flute. Mary was on the pipe organ. She must have had a lot of practice. She played it so elegantly.

Standing in the center in front of the podium was Karen. She wasn't playing an instrument. She had a slight smile on her face and it looked as if she were waiting for a cue. Once she heard it she began to sing.

There were no words to describe the beautiful sounds her voice made when she sang. Karen was perfectly in tune. Jack watched in awe of her talent. He looked around the church and everyone else was enjoying the music.

That voice reminds me of the little girl from long ago… 


	16. Here for You

**A/N**: Thanks for pointing out the spelling mistakes. I guess that's what I get for proofreading only twice before submitting :P Thank you all for the nice reviews. It's really encouraging and I appreciate it! As always, read and review!

Chapter 16: Here for You

It was the fifth of Fall. Jack remembered that day like it had only happened yesterday. He was in the hospital when it happened. Every once in a while he liked to go and visit Elli and buy some bodigizer so he could work a few more hours a day on the farm. On this particular day that's where he happened to be, chatting away the time with the young and perky nurse.

"So how are things going on the farm?" Elli smiled then reached behind the counter to find the bottle of bodigizer.

Elli was very naïve. She never got out much, as her job had her indoors all day either filling out paper work or helping the doctor. She had no idea what had happed with Jack in the past two weeks and he liked it that way. Made her more enjoyable to talk to.

"Things are going well. Nothing bad has happened yet. I'm expanding my chicken coop too, Gotz is working on it as we speak."

"That sounds so exciting!" She was still smiling as she put the bottle of medicine on the counter. "You know the price."

He nodded and put the gold on the counter, then took the bottle and put it in his pocket. "How are things going around here?"

"You know, the usual. Jeff is here every other day with a stomachache. Doctor says it's just in his head, but nobody can convince Jeff that. Too bad we don't have a shrink in town!" They both laughed together.

"It's good to hear that it's nothing serious."

"Yes well even though it isn't serious, that fact doesn't stop the rumors from spreading! Last I heard people were saying that Sasha was slowly poisoning Jeff to death. We've had inquiries to his health condition from various worried people in town. It's never a dull moment here!"

Elli laughed again and Jack smiled. He needed to surround himself with people like Elli; she never thought a bad thing ever. Well, except maybe when Stu brought her bugs for a gift. Even so, the woman was always positive and always seemed happy. She was nice to be around.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Jack was lost in thought, thinking about what a nice gal Elli was, while Elli tried to find something to say. She laughed nervously and looked like she was blushing slightly.

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly someone burst through the door. Elli jumped up from her seat and Jack quickly turned around to see who it was. There was Rick, his hair in disarray and his eyes looking wild.

"Where's the doctor? I demand the doctor at once!"

Followed behind Rick was Gotz, carrying a slumped over and weak looking Lillia. Hearing the commotion from his office, the doctor rushed out to see what was the matter.

He moved quickly towards one of the rooms where the patients stay. "She's gone into relapse! Quick Elli, get the IV!"

Everything happened so quickly Jack wasn't sure what to do. Elli moved the IV into the room, Gotz had set Lillia down on the bed, and the doctor had gotten to work hooking the frail woman up to everything.

Elli pushed everyone outside of the room into the waiting area. Jack was still standing by the counter, unsure of what to do to help. "What happened Rick? The doctor is going to need to know."

"I don't know!" He cried. "I was outside taking care of the chickens when I heard a crash. I went inside and there was my mother passed out on the floor! I don't know what happened! I ran to Jack's farm but he wasn't there. Luckily Gotz was and he carried mom over here." Rick was sweating. He tried to push the hair out of his face.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Jack asked as he moved away from the counter and towards the center of the waiting area. He didn't want to be completely useless.

"All we can do is wait now until the doctor figures out the problem. I'm sorry." Elli turned around and left the waiting area.

Gotz slowly sulked out of the hospital. Things like this reminded him too much of the past and he didn't want to stay. Rick sat down on one of the chairs and Jack sat next to him. They sat in silence until Karen burst into the hospital, a look of fear in her eye.

"Rick! There you are! I just got the news." She ran to his side and hugged him. That's when he began to cry. He was a grown man crying. He cried into her shoulder. Feeling awkward, Jack got up and left the hospital.

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The next day Jack's chicken coop was finished. He was looking at it proudly. It had taken him more than a season to save up for, but it was well worth the wait. Now he could expand and have more than 4 chickens. He only had 3 now, and was looking forward to putting tomorrow's eggs in the incubator to eventually hatch into baby chicks.

As he stood admiring his new building, Jack noticed out of the corner of his eye someone approaching his farm. He turned to see a very stressed out Rick coming towards him. "Uh hey Rick." Jack approached him.

"Hey Jack I uh… I need a favor from you." Jack nodded. "My mom is doing alright now, but she needs bed rest and 24 hour care. Popuri isn't around anymore so uhh… well I heard you got your coop expanded…"

"Go ahead and ask Rick."

"Could you take care of some of the chickens? I won't have the time anymore. I don't know what I am going to do! I can't contact Popuri because I don't know where she is! We'll be ruined!"

"Alright! I'll do it!" Jack sighed. There went his plans for raising more chicks of his own.

"Oh Jack thank you so much. You can keep or sell any of the eggs you get. That'll be my payment."

Jack nodded. He ended up spending most of the morning helping Rick move his chickens over to Jack's newly expanded coop. Jack wasn't a big fan of Rick, but he was never one to turn down anyone in need.

That afternoon Jack was outside working in his fields since he didn't get a chance to do so that morning. It was warm even though it was fall, and the sweat dripped off his forehead. Some of the crops were already starting to come out of the ground and Jack was excited to see how they would turn out.

He was working so hard that he didn't even notice that Karen was right behind him. She gently tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around. There she was, looking beautiful as always. Her eyes were red as if she had been crying for many hours.

"Karen what's wrong?" He tried to brush the dirt off of the front of his overalls.

"Lillia is dying."

He nodded. "Let's sit down under the apple tree." Karen followed him over to the tree and she sat down next to him. "I'm listening Karen."

"Lillia is like a second mother to me," she said between sniffles. "I don't know what I'll do without her."

"I heard that she would be alright, that she just needs bed rest."

Karen sighed. "That's just Rick in denial. She has cancer Jack. It's a rare form. Her husband went to look for a cure, and nobody knows where he is." She started to cry again. "It's just so hard! Rick has to take care of everything now that Popuri is gone! He can't handle it all alone. I hate that selfish brat! I hate her!"

She was bawling now, and not knowing anything better to do, Jack pulled her in close and just held her. She cried into his shoulder. "It'll be alright Karen. I'm here for you, just like you are always there for me."

Before Jack could know what was happening, Karen had leaned up and her lips were touching his. He was shocked for a moment, but before he knew what he was doing, he was returning her kiss. It was sweet, soft, gentle, and full of emotion. He pulled her closer and she wrapped her arms around him.

It was the most perfect kiss. Nobody had ever kissed Jack the way that Karen had. She held on to him on like she needed him. The kiss continued and he gently put his hand through her hair. She was absolutely the most beautiful creature in the world.

After that moment he never thought of Popuri again.


	17. Surprise Around the Corner

**A/N:** No it's not the end. And please don't hate me ;)

Chapter 17: Surprise Around the Corner

A few days had passed since Karen had come to visit Jack. It wasn't like he was trying to avoid her, but he was unsure of what to think of the situation that he found himself currently in. He had always had a bit of a crush on Karen, but she was in what seemed like a very serious and long-term relationship with Rick.

After they had shared their long and passionate kiss Karen had snuggled up against Jack for a few moments. Then as if reality had finally sunk into her head, she pulled away from Jack. She excused herself and quickly left the farm, leaving behind a very confused farmer.

He didn't really want to think about it, so he spent his days working on the farm in the morning, and reading in the library in the afternoon. He wasn't really avoiding Karen; he was just doing as he usually did.

After all, he had planned on visiting her when the Magic flowers bloomed. The days just weren't passing by fast enough. The plants had finally started to grow to full but they weren't blooming fast enough for Jack's likes. He needed an excuse to go and visit Karen. It would probably be too awkward any other way.

On that particular Fall day Jack was walking to the library as he usually did after lunch. As he did he couldn't help but over hear a conversation between Anna and Manna as they went to their daily gabfest in the Town Square. He walked a bit slower in order to hear more.

"Have you heard anything about Lillia's condition?" Anna asked.

"I went to visit the poor dear the other day. She looks awful. She's confined to bed rest and Rick has been taking care of her around the clock. He looks exhausted. The poor family, without Popuri there to help out, I don't know what they are going to do. I'm afraid they'll go bankrupt and have to close the farm! How are they ever going to afford Lillia's medicine?"

The chatter continued on but they were going the opposite way from Jack and he could no longer hear what they were saying. He frowned. How did he not see how selfish Popuri was before?

Jack pushed open the heavy doors to the library to see Mary standing behind her counter by herself. She was holding one of her books and reading something out loud. She always looked so cute that way.

"…and the farm was revived!"

"Hey Mary."

The young librarian jumped when she heard Jack and quickly closed the book she was reading out of. Looking slightly embarrassed with flush cheeks, she hid the book and smiled at Jack. "Hello Jack, I didn't realize it was already time for you to stop by."

"Yeah it's after lunch already. The day just flies by when you are working hard. Speaking of working hard, is that your book by any chance?"

Mary blushed again a deep red. "Yes, it is."

"You promised me that I could read it someday."

"Yes I did," she adjusted her glasses, "but I said that I would let you read it when it's finished. I changed the direction the story is going in, so I think that it might be a while before it's done."

"Alright, but you better let me read it!" Jack winked at her, which caused her to blush again. He always found Mary to be fun to hang around with. She always had something interesting to say and a good book to read to get his mind off of things. "So what do you have for me to read today?"

Mary frowned. "I was so into writing that I didn't realize it was time for you to come. I don't have a book picked out."

That moment was when Gray finally walked in. He usually came about the same time as Jack, but this time he was a bit late. He nodded towards Jack and smiled at Mary. He handed her some green grass. "I got this while mining this morning."

Mary was blushing bright red. "I love this Gray! Thank you."

Jack was grinning. These two were so cute together. "I'll just head upstairs and see what books I can find myself." Mary nodded and Jack was on his way upstairs.

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That night Jack decided to have dinner at the Inn. He was sick of the usually rice balls he had every night and it was time to finally treat himself to a real meal. He couldn't wait until he could afford to buy himself a kitchen.

On the way to the Inn Jack ran into Elli who was going in the opposite direction of her house. "Hello Jack." She smiled when she saw him.

"Hey Elli, what are you doing heading this way this late at night?" He grinned at her.

"Rick needed some time off from taking care of Lillia so he asked me if I could do it for a few hours. I don't have anything else to do at night so I figured why not. I've been meaning to see how Lillia was doing anyways."

"That is really nice of you Elli."

"Well you do what you can to help people out. Makes me feel good." She was still smiling. She always seemed happy. "What are you doing out tonight Jack?"

"I was going to go and have dinner with Ann."

"That sounds so nice!"

Jack laughed. "And by having dinner with Ann, I mean I eat alone and chat with her in between customers."

Elli laughed too. "Oh Jack! I hope you have fun tonight. I should get to Lillia's now, I don't want to keep Rick waiting!"

"See you later Elli." She hurried past Jack and he continued on his way to the Inn.

At the Inn Jack took his usual seat towards the back of the main room. It was just nice to be out of the way, plus it was right by the door to the kitchen so Ann could always stop by quickly to talk to him. He hadn't talked to her much lately and was starting to miss her cheeriness.

"Hey Jack, what can I get for you today?" Ann pulled out a pad of paper, and Jack laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Like you really need to write down my order."

"Well it has been a long time since you've been here to eat. I forgot what it is." She tried to pretend to be serious. It was obvious she was just giving him a hard time because he never came to visit anymore, and he knew it. Jack just stared at her until she finally broke, and let out a laugh. "Okay fine a salad, do you want water or beer tonight?"

"Water, I should probably start saving my money for a kitchen."

"Aww don't do that! Then you'll never come to the Inn." Ann pretended to pout but laughed again.

"You know that isn't true. Now hurry up with my order, or you'll get no tip!" Ann gently smacked the back of his head and went into the kitchen. Jack just laughed to himself.

The night continued on with Jack getting his food, and talking to Ann between customers. It wasn't very busy, so she actually had time to sit down with him and talk about things that had been going on. She blabbed on about the upcoming festivals while Jack listened quietly and ate.

Sometime after Jack finished his salad but before he ordered a desert, Rick came into the Inn with Karen in tow. She smiled meekly at Jack and the couple took a seat a few tables away from where he was sitting. Jack started to feel jealous, but he tried to control his feelings. He was there after all to see Ann, so he didn't want to just walk out without giving her a good tip and saying goodbye.

Things were starting to pick up now, it was getting to be that time of night where all the town's men gather to drink beer and wine together. Ann was going nuts with drink orders, so she quickly brought out Jack's desert, a piece of cake, and left him for a while.

Somewhere in the middle of his desert, Rick stood up and began to talk. "I have something to say and I want everyone here to know it!" Jack looked up from his cake and the Inn settled down a bit.

He turned and looked at Karen. "Karen, we've been dating for a few years now, and they've been the best years of my life. Things are really tough right now, but you're always there for me. I want to be always there for you too. I want you to be part of my life always, through thick and thin, through sickness and in health."

Karen's eyes began to water as Rick got down on one knee and pulled out a shiny blue feather. The light reflected off it in a way that made Jack's eyes hurt. Tears started to roll down the young woman's cheeks. Jack had no idea what was going on.

"Karen, will you marry me?"


	18. Explanation

Chapter 18: Explanation

"Yes."

Everyone in the inn cheered. Everyone with the exception of Jack, whose eyes opened so wide he felt as if they were going to bug out of his head. There was hooting and hollering as Rick pulled Karen up from her seat to give her a kiss. Jack was quickly feeling the contents of his dinner rise up into his throat.

Ann started to pass by Jack. Even with all the celebration she still had work to do. She stopped suddenly when she saw Jack's face turn green. "Oh my goddess! Jack! Are you alright?"

"I'm going to be sick."

And he was, though not before Ann could drag him into the kitchen and get him to the garbage. He hurled until there was nothing left in his stomach and his throat burned. Ann looked concerned and Jack's only explanation was "I ate too fast".

He didn't want her to know the real reason why he had gotten sick that night.

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The next day was the Harvest Festival. Jack wasn't up for celebrating, but he had already told the mayor he was going to go, so he went. This festival was one in which everyone put things into a stew and everyone ate it together in celebration of the Fall harvest. Unfortunately for Jack, his harvest hadn't come yet.

So the only thing that he could bring was eggs. Nobody wanted raw eggs in their stew, and he didn't have a kitchen, so he went to the hot spring in order to boil the egg. Popuri had taught him how to boil the eggs this way when they first started to date. It was weird; this was the first time he had thought about Popuri in a while. He didn't even miss her anymore.

The festival was as typical as any one. The square was decorated and in the middle was a huge pot. Doug was stirring it and Ann was adding in seasoning. Jack handed the eggs over to Ann, who of course was smiling.

"How are you feeling today, Jack?"

"I could be better."

"I'm sorry to hear." She turned back to adding things to the stew. "Have some stew later, it might make you feel better."

After seeing that kinds of things that people were putting into it, he wasn't so sure he would even stick around to see how other people reacted to it.

Off to the side was Karen standing by herself. Jack tried to avoid her gaze as he took a seat on one of the benches on the opposite side. His efforts didn't help though. She walked over to him anyways. "Hey Jack."

"Where is Rick?" he huffed. He didn't want to think about it, but he was pretty upset by the events that had happened the past few days.

Karen frowned. "He's at home taking care of Lillia. I don't want to make a big scene here with all these people around. Will you take a walk with me around town before they serve the stew?"

Jack didn't answer, but he did get up to follow her out of the square and back into town. "Jack I just wanted to apologize for what happened."

"Why did you lead me on Karen? I thought we were friends. That hurt."

She sighed and watched the ground as they walked. "I just didn't have anywhere to turn. Lillia was sick and Rick was an emotional mess. The only person I could think of was you. I came here to talk to you. I didn't plan for that to happen. I lost control. I was weak, I'm sorry."

Jack looked away and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "I felt something," he mumbled.

"What Jack?"

He looked back at her but didn't repeat what he had said. "Do you even love him?"

Jack's question shocked her for a moment, but then she recomposed herself and spoke again. "Of course I do! What makes you think that I don't?"

"You, you know…"

"It was a mistake Jack. Just a mistake."

He was crushed. She had just called what happened between them a mistake. While it was for a girl in her situation, he definitely felt something and didn't want to believe that she didn't feel it too.

"Rick and I had always planned on getting married. It was expected of us. We both decided it was the best time to do it now since Lillia…" her voice trailed off and she didn't finish her sentence.

They had just turned the corner and were walking by his farm. Jack stopped and shook his head. "I wish you both all the happiness in the world." He turned around and went back to his farm.

He never found out how good that stew turned out to be.

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Days passed and Jack barely ventured out to town. He didn't want to run into Karen. He was still very hurt by the fact that she had called their encounter a mistake. It hurt because he thought he was her friend, and now he felt used.

It was Fall 13th, the day of the Moon Viewing festival. It wasn't as formal as the other festivals. People got together with a date and went to view the moon in a special place. Jack didn't have anyone to go with.

Not that it stopped him from enjoying this festival. He needed anything to get his mind off of what had happened in the last few weeks and this was as good as anything. That night he found himself climbing the long walkway up Mother's Hill to the top. That would be the best view of the moon.

When he got to the top he found that he was not alone. There was the young librarian, sitting with her legs dangling over the summit. She was looking up to the sky. Jack followed her gaze and saw what she was starring at. The moon, in its fullest state, looked as huge and as bright as ever. It looked as if he could reach out and touch it.

Mary turned to see who had come up behind her. "Hello Jack. I see you've found my favorite moon viewing spot."

"Hey Mary, how come you aren't here with Gray?" Jack looked around to see if maybe the man was just not in his view, but he was no where to be found.

"His grandfather wouldn't let him come out of the house tonight."

"That really is unfair. This festival only comes once a year."

"It does, but a person can't always get what they want, now can they Jack?" Mary smiled a little. "You should sit down. It's fun to hang your feet over the ledge."

Jack sat down next to Mary. They were silent for a few moments before she began to speak. "Did you know that they call this the Harvest Moon?"

"No I didn't."

"It's called that because this is the time of season when farmers start to harvest their crops. The full moon always falls on the same day every Fall, so our founding fathers decided to make a festival of this day too in celebration of the moon and the Fall harvest."

"That is very interesting Mary. How do you know so much about the town's history?" Jack looked at her curiously. The shine of the moon reflected off her skin and she looked like she was illuminating. She looked differently here under the moon's light than she usually did under the dim light of the library.

"The people of this town used to write all their history down in books or journals. I have tons of books of the accounts of people who used to live here. I was thinking about making a book about the current history of Mineral Town. I'm not sure I could do it by myself, but I know nobody else is writing this stuff down and I feel like it would be a shame to see all our history completely disappear forever when we die."

"That's a really good idea Mary." Jack smiled. "I feel the same as you, I would hate to see this town's history disappear. I want my kids and my grandkids to know what we did here now together as a town. You should really do it."

"I think I will." Mary smiled too and nodded her head.

They both sat in silence for the rest of the Moon Viewing festival.

They didn't need talk; they had the company of the moon.


	19. The Poor Groom's Bride is a

A/N: Hey I'm back! Sorry for the long delay in updating. I have been working on this chapter for months. It was difficult.

Chapter 19: The Poor Groom's Bride is a…

The next two days were a blur for Jack.

He remembered opening his mailbox to find an invitation. The wedding was to be on her birthday. He remembered watching as the pieces of the ripped up paper went up into the air and were taken by the wind.

He didn't remember why he had gone into the blacksmith's shop. He was standing there, looking around, trying to figure out why he gone there in the first place when he heard a gruff voice from the back.

"Haven't you people ever heard of… closing the… damn door!"

Behind Jack the door was wide open. A cool autumn breeze blew in and sent a chill down his spine. He slowly backed up and pushed the door closed.

"Oh Jack, it's you." Gray came out from the back of the workshop, sweat dripping off his brow. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead. "I thought it was someone from the wedding party. They've been annoying me all day."

"Wedding party?"

"What a pain. People have been in and out of here all day with requests for gifts. Rick has been going crazy over the ring." Gray sighed and put his handkerchief away. "I should get back to work Jack. I really can't take any more orders until after the wedding, so hopefully whatever you needed can wait."

_What do I need?_

That question repeatedly passed through his thoughts as he wandered around the town. He couldn't rid himself of the nagging feeling that what Karen was doing was wrong. He felt like she was making a huge mistake, one that would ruin her life.

Or maybe that was his jealousy talking. Rick and Karen could have a very happy and successful marriage. He didn't know that. All he knew was that he had a nagging feeling and it felt like it was going to drive him insane.

Jack's thoughts had led him to the library. It was a place he was more and more relating as somewhere to go to be alone. Or be with Mary. Maybe she could say something that would calm his emotions?

"Good afternoon Jack. Can I help you with anything? I didn't get you a book today because I didn't think you were going to come. You haven't been in a few day." Mary smiled and they sat down at a table together.

Mary couldn't say anything that would comfort him. They discussed marriage and the traditions of the village. Mary assumed he was curious because of the wedding that was to occur the next day. There was just one thing he needed to know before he could return back to his farm and his work.

"What do you mean there is no divorce here?!?!" Jack's eyes widened as he jumped up out of his seat.

Mary shook her head. "There is no record of anyone getting a divorce in the entire history of the town. Here, people stay married until death." Mary also stood up. "If you find the right woman then there is nothing to worry about." She couldn't help but laugh, causing her classes to slide slightly down her nose. She quickly adjusted them.

"Marriage is a serious thing here. People don't just jump into it without thinking. Or at least I hope they wouldn't."

"Yes… thank you Mary." Jack sulked out of the library without saying another word.

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The next day Jack found himself standing in front of the grape vines. He was picking the sweet fruit and placing it into a basket. Next to him was Cliff, chatting away. Jack could not follow whatever he was speaking about.

He only had one thing on his mind. Today was her wedding day.

"Hey Jack! You haven't said a word all afternoon. You are like like a zombie there. Is something wrong?"

"No," he replied. Jack only continued to pick the grapes.

On the other side of town the organ began to play in the church. Karen slowly stepped forward. Everyone turned to look at her. Her white wedding gown was low cut and short. A few people gasped when they saw her, but they were barely audible over the music being played.

Karen looked down the end of the isle where Rick was standing by Carter. He was absolutely beaming. This would be the best day of his entire life. Karen, on the other hand, suddenly became very nervous. Thoughts began to race through her mind. She was completely frozen.

She felt something behind her nudge her forward and she finally began the walk. Rick nodded his head in excitement. It had finally sunk in that he was getting married to his childhood sweetheart. She continued moving forward as the townsfolk watched anxiously.

Karen was so close now. So close to committing herself to one man for the rest of her life. Suddenly her mind flashed back to something that had happened a week before.

_Do you even love him?_

Jack's words echoed in her head. She couldn't believe she was questioning her decision now. She was standing before the priest with her fiancé. She was getting married. Now wasn't the time to question the decision.

Carter began to speak but she did not hear a word he said. Her mind continued to race with questions of her motive and the reality of what she was doing. Karen didn't even realize what was going on until the church became completely silent and Rick was nudging her side.

Karen looked up at Carter, who was looking down at her. This was it.

"I do."


	20. Boys Night Out

Chapter 20: Boys Night Out

Secretly Jack had hoped that Karen had turned and run.

He still did not believe that she didn't feel anything that day. Why else would she go to him? She had truly needed him that day. He felt it. That wasn't a mistake.

He could still feel her gentle touch on his skin. The sweet taste of her lips upon his. Her body close to his. It was all a mistake? She had to be lying. He had never felt anything like that before.

So of course he had hoped that she wouldn't go through with the wedding. But there was one thing he learned the hard way about the townsfolk; they always did what they were supposed to. Karen married Rick because she was supposed to. And that was that.

Jack had decided to put all his energy into the farm. He was more determined than ever to be successful there. It had become a habit for him to put in close to ten hours a day working on the farm. Even so, all the work in the world could not keep Jack's mind off of her.

The town had generally left Jack alone. Nobody knew what had made him so upset and nobody wanted to ruin the high morale after the wedding in order to find out. So it was surprising to Jack one evening when he heard a knock at his door.

His heart sank when he opened it. He had hoped it was her, there to tell him that she had run away from the wedding and would never consider marrying Rick again. Instead, it was a messy haired young man with a large grin on his face.

Cliff scratched his head nervously once he noticed how Jack looked. "Hey Jack, I hope this isn't a bad time." Jack shook his head. "I came by because you know I never thanked you for getting me that job over at the winery."

"It was no big deal." Jack began to close the door but Cliff held it open.

"No, it was a big deal to me. You're a real lifesaver Jack. I wanted to repay you some how. I thought we could go camping!"

"Camping?"

"Yes camping. Gray is setting up the tent up on Mother's hill and we're bringing a few fishing rods."

"Tonight???" Jack was clearly not in the mood.

"Yes tonight. Come on! It'll just be us guys. You can return to your voluntary seclusion in the morning."

"Fine." He wasn't sure why he agreed to do this. Maybe it would get him to stop thinking about her for a night.

Jack dug through his toolbox for his fishing rod. It had been a gift from a kind old fisherman who he hadn't seen in many weeks. He made a note to visit Greg whenever he got a free moment and then left his house with Cliff.

Halfway up Mother's Hill the boys met up with Gray. He had the tent already set up and was having difficulty with his fishing line. Cliff took it out of his hands and fixed it for him.

"Hey! I had that." Gray grunted and Cliff laughed.

"Yeah maybe you'd have it by tomorrow!" He handed the pole back to Gray.

"I didn't realize you guys were such good friends," Jack commented as he sat down at the edge of the pond and began to set up his line.

"Well hello to you too." Gray tossed his line into the water.

"If we weren't friends then I would never get any sleep, you know? I'd be too afraid of him attacking me!! You know he has _biiigg_ hammers…" Cliff showed with his hands just how big.

Jack finally cracked a smile. It had been some time since he had smiled. It was a refreshing feeling.

"Haha. Very funny." Gray smirked.

Cliff bowed. "I'll be here all week!" He laughed. "I was going to be a stand up comedian you know. But I decided it was much easier to be a hobo pouting inside the town church. That is, until this guy came along and told me to get a life!"

"That isn't what happened."

"It was something like that." Jack rolled his eyes. "How did you know I needed a job? I only spoke to you once before at Ann's birthday party."

"Ann told me." Jack set his fishing pole down at his side. He didn't even feel like fishing. He looked up at the evening sky. The sun was setting now and it was nice to watch.

"Oh, Ann." Cliff sat down next to Jack and snatched up his fishing pole. He quickly set it up and cast it into the water. "Speaking of Ann, she keeps asking about you Jack. I guess you haven't seen her in a while?"

"I've been busy." Jack continued to stare ahead and watch as the sun slowly disappeared.

"Yeah, Mary has been wondering where you have been too." Gray turned to look at Jack.

Jack didn't say anything right away. He wasn't sure what they were getting at. After a few moments he felt the guys starring at him from either side and he looked back and forth at them. "What are you trying to say?"

Cliff suddenly went from goofy and friendly to shy and serious. "It's just that they ask about you a lot…"

Jack jumped up and looked accusingly at the other men. "Is that what this is all about??"

"No!" Gray was the first to answer.

"No way Jack. I really did want to repay you for getting me that job. It's just that… uh… I don't know how to say it…" Cliff trailed off and looked away.

"They are my friends. That's it." Jack sat back down. The boys sat in silence for a while.

Cliff was the first to break the quiet. "Hey Jack, do you have any cucumbers?"

"What? Why do you want cucumbers?" Jack looked at the man, confused. Cliff was back to his goofy grinning self.

"I heard that if you throw a cucumber into the pond that a creepy green beast will come out and talk to you." Cliff laughed.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Gray grumbled.

"Where did you hear a crazy story like that?" Jack questioned.

"From Carter, so it must be true!" Both Jack and Gray groaned at the same time. Cliff just laughed in response. "You guys need to lighten up."

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The next day, Karen was outside the Poultry farm taking the laundry off of the clothesline. There was no honeymoon for her and Rick. They had just one night at the Inn to spend together. Lillia was sick and there was too much work to be done on the farm to take any time away from it.

She glanced across the stream that separated Lillia's property from Jack's. From where she was she could see Jack's farmland, with a clear view of the spot she and him had planted the Magic flowers. She felt a strange feeling from deep inside when she realized that Jack had let the flowers dry up and die. Karen could not figure out why she felt this way.

It was because she would never know what color those flowers turned out to be.


	21. All Mixed Up

Chapter 21: All Mixed Up

Before Jack could even realize it, Fall had turned into Winter and there was a light dusting of snow all over the town. He had spent the end of fall just working on his farm. Jack had saved almost all his money and was ready to upgrade the remaining buildings on his farm, including increasing the size of his home. He was also inspired by the Sheep Festival to purchase and bring one of the fluffy creatures home to his farm.

Winter was quiet, cold, and slow. Not many people went outside during frigid and snowy days. There was also significantly less farm work to do. Nothing could be planted in the winter. He only had a few farm animals that needed to be taken care of. Sometime after the wedding Rick had taken his chickens back, but that still didn't give Jack enough time to fill his coop completely with chickens. He only had one cow and one sheep. This provided Jack with a lot of free time he didn't really want to have.

Every day he would take care of the animals then chop some wood. He fished a bit then spent his afternoons in the upstairs of the Library. Jack spent hours with his head buried in the many books that were written by Basil. Who knew there was so much to say about the vegetation of the surrounding area?

He continued this schedule for about a week and a half into the winter season. On this particular day though, he decided to speak with Mary instead of going straight up the stairs to read. He hadn't had a good conversation with her in a long time.

"Hello Mary." Jack smiled at the young librarian as he tried to dust the snow off of his jacket. "How are you today?"

"I am well. It's nice to see you being social again Jack. You've barely spoken to me in the last few weeks. I was wondering if I did something wrong?" She was blushing just slightly.

"I've just had a lot on my mind. I'm feeling better now though."

Mary smiled. "Good, I'm glad to hear it. How is your farm doing?"

"It's doing great! The animals aren't really enjoying this cold weather, but they seem to be happy enough." Jack stopped and thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! I finally got an extension on my house. I now have a kitchen!"

"It must be wonderful to finally be able to cook your own food."

Jack sighed. "It would be, but so far the only thing I have to cook with is a mixer. I've only been able to make veggie juice."

"Veggie juice!" Mary squealed, which caused Jack's eyes to widen. He had never seen the shy woman so excited before in his whole time there.

"Um… what?" He wasn't sure how else to react to her sudden enthusiasm.

"Veggie juice is my favorite!!"

Jack laughed. He then had an idea. "Hey, why don't you come over to my place and I'll make you some. You can tell me if it's any good."

Mary nodded her head vigorously. "Yes! I'll stop by after I close the library for the night, if that is okay with you Jack?"

"Sure Mary, come by whenever you get a free moment."

-------------------------------------------

The whirring of the mixer slowed to a halt. Mary's eyes widened as the reality of what she was about to have became apparent to her. "This is so exciting Jack!" she exclaimed as he began to pour the juice into a glass. "We don't have a mixer at home so I haven't had this since before we moved here."

Jack handed her the glass and smiled. "Don't get too excited yet. You haven't even tried it."

"I'm sure it tastes excellent." Mary took the glass and looked at it for a moment. Jack couldn't tell if it was the way the lighting was in his house or if Mary really was blushing as deep a red as he thought. She took a quick first sip, paused for a moment, and then downed the entire glass in just a few moments.

Jack watched her with amazement. "It's that good?"

She nodded, wiping away any juice leftover on her upper lip. She then giggled. "It's the best I've ever had! Fresh vegetables make all the difference!"

"There is some left if you would like to have more." Jack looked over at the mixer he had left on the counter.

Mary looked away, almost as if she were embarrassed. "Umm. Well I was hoping you would let me take some home with me. I want to have some for another time."

Jack laughed. She was incredibly cute when she was shy like this. "Mary, of course you can take the rest home with you. You shouldn't worry about not getting any more other than this either. If veggie juice can make you act like this all the time then I'll bring you some as often as I can!"

Jack bottled up the remaining veggie juice from the mixer and they sat down at his table. They sat and chatted about whatever random topic came up for several hours. Eventually Mary casually looked at her watch and was shocked to see what time it was.

"Oh my! I've over stayed my welcome." She scrambled to get up and was heading towards the door when Jack stopped her.

"It's okay Mary. I really enjoy talking with you."

She smiled at his comment. "I should get home. It's very late."

"Okay. Just remember that you are always welcome here. Stop by whenever you feel like it."

"I'll remember that. Have a good night, Jack."

"Good night, Mary." She turned to look at him and lingered a moment. Then she hurried out the door.

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Winter 10th was the day of the annual Mineral Town Dog Race. Jack's pup Koro was too small to compete in the races. Jack had been talked into going to the race anyways because they were "super fun!" as described by Ann.

Jack went to Town Square as soon as all the animals were taken care of. When he arrived he saw Ann had already been there for some time and had in her hands multiple tickets. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey Jack! Over here!" Ann called over to him and tried to wave her hands. A few of the tickets fell to the ground and she scrambled to pick them up.

Jack walked over and helped her. "What is all this?" he questioned.

"All the bets I made today!" Ann was absolutely beaming. "I just love this festival! It's so fun to bet on the dogs and try to win some money!"

"You might want to put those in your pocket so you don't lose them," Jack said with a laugh.

Ann looked at the tickets, then at Jack, then back at the tickets again. She frowned. "I already forgot who I bet on!"

"Hey, I have an idea." He started to reach for the tickets but Ann held on to them tightly. "Listen. I'll keep track of some of these so you don't get yourself all mixed up and end up misplacing them."

"Okay!" Ann grinned and handed a few of her tickets to Jack. He looked over them carefully to see which dogs he should be paying attention to during the race.

A few minutes before the race was set to start Karen arrived at the Town Square. Jack just happened to glance up the moment she entered and saw her. Her clothes were wrinkled and she had very dark circles under her eyes. She looked completely exhausted.

He didn't want her to know he saw her, so Jack quickly looked away. As soon as she passed he looked back to see what she was doing. She walked over to the Mayor's booth and put down a small sack of money. She was there for a few minutes before the Mayor gave her the tickets.

Jack's attention was suddenly snapped back to the race when he heard the loud beaming voice of Zack yelling, "On your mark! Get set! GO!!!"

The dogs were off. Jack was amazed at how fast they ran. Ann was standing next to him, leaning on the fence that outlined the track, and screaming her head off. Actually most of the people in Town Square were yelling, but it was Ann that was going to make Jack go deaf.

The dogs rounded the corner and were heading towards the finish line. As soon as one crossed Ann began to scream even louder. "I WON!! I WON!!!" Jack looked down at her tickets. How could she not? She bet on every single dog.

Ann began to run in circles and then jumped up to hug Jack. He returned the hug and laughed. He glanced over her shoulder and saw Karen off to the side by herself. Her head was in her hands.

Was she crying?


	22. Midwinter Emotions

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I see there are a couple people who have this as an alert who have never reviewed. I ask that you please do. The comments really help me understand how you guys feel about the story and where I should take this. Thanks in advance!

This chapter took a while to get done because it was very hard to write. This sets in motion the events that will lead to the end of the story. Don't worry though! I've got a whole lot more story to tell before then.

Chapter 22: Midwinter Emotions

The days after the Dog Race Festival led up to the Winter Thanksgiving Festival. It was officially the middle of winter. It was hard not to notice. The temperature dropped even further and the snow was beginning to pile up on the fields and roads of Mineral Town.

Jack was beginning to get nervous about the Thanksgiving Festival. In the spring he had baked cookies for all the girls in Ann's kitchen. It was a friendly gesture. This holiday felt different though. It felt as if it should be romantic.

The assumption could be because the festival happened in the middle of winter, the same as the Valentine's Day holiday that was celebrated in the city. Jack had never spent a Valentine's Day with anyone special and was nervous about the upcoming holiday because he was afraid he would spend it alone too.

He hadn't been romantically involved with anyone in the town since Popuri. There was that one moment with Karen, but that was all it was, just a moment. A moment did not equate into involvement and Jack had to learn that the hard way.

Jack still thought about Karen often, especially after he saw her at the Dog Race. He couldn't get that scene out of his head. He was hugging Ann, looking over her shoulder, and there was Karen. She appeared to be crying. He instinctively wanted to run over and comfort her, but he remembered that he was just a mistake and continued to congratulate Ann for her winning bets.

That particular day Jack finished taking care of his animals fairly early. He wandered into the back woods and took out his axe. Winter was the perfect time to chop wood. He had tons of free time and he was beginning to plan his second home extension. A larger home was like a symbol of success to Jack.

Jack began to whack away at the tree stumps with his axe. His thoughts were full of the Winter Thanksgiving Festival that was just a few days away. He wondered if he should bother sticking around the farm that day just in case someone stopped by. He didn't think anyone would, but it was probably worth a shot.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a sound. He wasn't sure what it was at first. It seemed distant. He tried to ignore it but it slowly grew louder. Jack finally figured out what it was. It was the sound of someone crying.

Jack set his axe down and looked around. It was still early in the day so nobody was around. Gotz was still up the mountain on his daily patrol. He followed the sound up the hill towards the hot spring.

When Jack got to the top he froze. Sitting by the edge of the pond was a young woman with light brown hair. It was Karen. She was bundled up in a heavy green jacket. Her hair was a mess. Karen turned to look to see who had approached her. Her face was stained with tears. When she realized who it was she covered her face with her hand.

"I didn't think anyone would be here this early," she said.

"You were sobbing so loud I could hear you from Gotz's house." There was silence for a few moments and she turned away. Jack finally broke the silence, "do you want to talk about it?"

Karen shook her head. "I don't know why you would want to speak with me after what I did to you."

Jack sat down next to the young woman and turned to look at her. She finally looked back at him. She looked horrible. Her eyes were bloodshot from all the crying. There were dark circles under her eyes and her hair was matted. She looked thinner than normal. Karen looked as if she hadn't seen in a mirror in weeks.

Any anger he felt towards Karen or what had happened between them completely disappeared when he realized the condition she was in. All the negative emotions were quickly replaced with worry. His eyes concentrated on her, and she looked back at him.

"You did hurt me, but forget that now. What happened to you Karen? Why are you so upset?"

"You don't want to hear it," was her only reply.

He shook his head. "Yes I do. We used to be friends, remember? We still can be."

Karen looked down then began to speak. "Okay, but please don't judge me."

"You used to trust me."

"I still do. I just thought that after…" her voice trailed off. "Never mind."

Karen looked up again but didn't look directly at Jack. She seemed to be trying to figure out where to start. Jack didn't interrupt and patiently waited for her to begin speaking again.

"You know how Lillia is really sick right?" Jack nodded. "Well, she still needs around the clock care. With Rick working all day with the chickens I'm left to do all the work around the house and take care of Lilia. He's even traveling now to hand deliver the chickens he sells himself and on those days I have to take care of everything including the chickens! I'm just exhausted."

"That's a lot of work," Jack commented. He was still trying to get her to look at him but she would not.

Karen nodded. "Lillia's medicine is also very expensive. With Rick's income supporting three people now it's been really tough." Tears began to form in her eyes again. "And I'm so embarrassed to say this, but yesterday I took my savings and bet everything at the Dog Race. I was hoping to win some money back so we could afford the medicine." She started to cry now. "I lost all of it! All my savings from working at the grocery store! It's all gone!"

During their talk it had begun to snow, and the wind was picking up. Karen was shivering. Jack instinctively pulled her close to him. She cried into his shoulder.

"Come on; let's get out of this cold." Jack helped Karen up.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Back to my house. I'll get a fire started and you can warm up."

Back at Jack's house he started a fire and handed Karen a blanket. She took it and sat down in front of the fireplace. The fire slowly got larger and she was shivering less.

"I didn't know you got an upgrade on your house. It's like a real house now," Karen commented.

"It's nice to finally have a kitchen." Jack moved around in the kitchen but stopped once he remembered that he didn't have a pot. "I was going to make you tea but I don't have anything to boil water with."

"It's okay. You should sit next to me." Jack walked around the kitchen counter and sat down next to Karen by the fire. She slid over closer to him and leaned against his body. He hadn't realized how much he missed her until then.

"Thanks for talking with me Jack."

"It's not a big deal." He put his arm around her and they sat in silence while watching the fire crackle.

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Two days later Karen was walking through the streets of Mineral Town early in the morning. She wanted to get out before Lillia woke up and needed care. Karen needed to do some shopping at the grocery store for ingredients to make Rick a Thanksgiving cake, and she needed to pick up Lillia's medicine at the hospital.

Her first stop was the hospital. Inside Elli was smiling cheerfully as she always did. Karen couldn't help but smile too. She was feeling better since her talk with Jack. Elli saw Karen enter and her smile became even brighter. She set the medicine out on the table.

"Here you are Karen."

Karen walked over and picked it up, putting the bottles into her pocket. "How much do I owe you?"

Elli giggled a bit. "Nothing."

Karen frowned. "What do you mean nothing? We're going to run the hospital right out of business if you keep not charging us for this stuff."

"A nice young man came in here yesterday and paid for it. You don't owe us anything."

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It was finally the day of the Winter Thanksgiving Festival. Jack's moral was high after rekindling his friendship with Karen. He felt as if nothing could ruin his good mood. He didn't even care if none of the girls came by with chocolate for him. He decided to stick around his home anyways though, just in case.

After all the animals were taken care of for the day Jack returned to his house. But before he could go inside he heard a quiet voice call out his name. He turned and there was Elli, coming up the walkway towards him.

"Hello Jack! Good morning!" She was smiling. There was never a time when she wasn't cheerful.

"Morning Elli. What are you doing down this way?" Jack asked.

She laughed a bit. "You know what day it is right?" He nodded. "Well I brought you some chocolate to have. You did give me cookies in the Spring and I wanted to return the favor."

Elli approached Jack and handed him a bar of chocolate. "Now don't eat too much at one time. Oh! Don't forget to brush your teeth afterwards."

It was Jack's turn to laugh. The doctor's young assistant was always looking out for everyone's health. He thanked her and she was on her way back to the hospital.

Jack went back into his house and spent the next hour or so cleaning and watching TV. He was suddenly interrupted by a knock at his door. Right afterwards he heard a voice that made him laugh.

"Hey! Open up! It's cold out here!!"

Jack opened his door and the fiery redhead came bursting in. "I can't stand out there all day you know." Her eyes widened when she noticed Jack's new kitchen. "Oh wow! Is that it?" She walked over and began to examine it.

"Hello to you too."

"Your only utensil is a mixer."

"Good observation!" He teased her. Ann put her hand on her hip and Jack laughed. "I can only purchase one item a week. I haven't had the kitchen that long."

"I see." Ann was examining all the counter tops. She stopped and laughed, looking a bit embarrassed. "Your kitchen distracted me. I came to give you this." She pulled out of her pocket a half melted bar of chocolate. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Thanks Ann." Unsure of what to do with the chocolate, Jack set it down on the counter.

"I wanted to bake cakes for everyone but we were so busy at the Inn that I didn't have time." She frowned.

"It's okay Ann."

"But it's not really. I wanted to bake my father a cake. He doesn't have anyone to share this holiday with so I wanted to do something nice for him."

"Oh."

"Yeah…" Ann looked at the time. "Well, I better get going. I hope I'll see you at the Inn soon?"

"Of course Ann, you always do."

Ann left and Jack was back to doing what he was doing before she came. He flipped around on the TV. There was no real way to channel surf since there were only four channels. There was never much to watch either.

After some time there was a gentle knock on Jack's door. It was so quiet he didn't hear it the first time. The person on the other side knocked again.

"Jack?" There was a pause. "Are you there?"

The voice was quiet, and Jack recognized it right away. It was Mary. He jumped up and opened the door. He looked down once he noticed she was holding something. In her hand she had a chocolate cake.

"Happy Thanksgiving Jack." She handed him the cake and he smiled.

"Thanks Mary! I love cake. Especially chocolate."

His comment made her giggle and blush a little. "Good I'm glad." She looked inside. "May I?"

"Of course!" Jack moved aside so that Mary could enter. He closed the door and set the cake down on his table. She sat down at the table and he took a seat across from her.

That was where they spent most of the day, talking and laughing together.

-----------------------

That night Jack was getting ready for bed when he heard another knock at his door. "Who's there?" he called out. He wasn't expecting anyone at this hour. Nobody answered. He opened the door and nobody was there. On the ground in front of the door was a cake.

Or something that resembled a cake.


End file.
